Technology company shares have fallen sharply in Asia, Europe, and the United States after over a year of big gains. This drop happened because investors are now worried about the very high cost of building new artificial intelligence (AI) systems. For example, Samsung Electronics in South Korea and SoftBank Group in Japan both saw their share prices fall, along with other companies that make computer chips.

The main reason for this change is the huge spending by large companies such as Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon. These companies have spent hundreds of billions of dollars on powerful chips and large computer centres to support AI.

Because of these worries, investors now want proof that expensive AI projects can make good profits. As a result, many have started to sell shares in technology and chip companies, waiting to see if the companies can show strong financial results.