Reuters=Yonhap News. 

Debate is intensifying over whether the explosive growth in artificial intelligence (AI) will continue, as Taiwan's semiconductor foundry TSMC sees its monthly revenue growth slow down.

TSMC announced on the 10th (local time) that its October revenue increased by 16.9% compared to the same period last year, marking the lowest level since February 2024, 18 months ago.

This figure reflects only one month's business performance and is not suitable for judging medium to long-term growth trends.

It also aligns with the market forecast of 16% compiled by analysts.

Nevertheless, the market is showing tension, according to Bloomberg News.

Concerns have been raised that TSMC's slowing growth rate could signal the end of the 'AI boom' that has been leading the market.

Despite recent record-high earnings announcements from major tech companies, concerns about an AI bubble have spread in the market, leading to a stock price adjustment centered on tech stocks in the latter half of last week.

Michael Burry's Scion Asset Management, famous for predicting the 2008 financial crisis, also disclosed that it had purchased put options on Nvidia and Palantir, revealing its bet on a stock price decline for these companies.

However, tech industry figures, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, remain optimistic about the market.

Huang stated during his visit to Taiwan on the 8th to meet with TSMC that demand for their latest architecture 'Blackwell' Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) has surged, leading to additional orders for wafers, a key raw material, from TSMC.

C.C. Wei, CEO of TSMC, also said last month that their production capacity remains extremely tight, and they are working to narrow the gap between supply and demand.

Major AI-related companies including OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, and Meta have also pledged continued substantial investments in the AI sector, bolstering the view that the AI sector's growth trend will persist.

Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm, recently pointed out in an interview with Bloomberg, "The world is underestimating the growth of AI."

On the New York Stock Exchange, TSMC's American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) were trading at $294.8, up about 3% from the previous day, as of 2 PM Eastern Time (11 AM Pacific Time).

Yonhap News