SK Hynix unveils $64B chip plant plan amid global tech selloff

SK Hynix said on Thursday it plans to invest 100 trillion won ($64.38 billion) to build new chip-making facilities in Cheongju, central South Korea, including a major NAND memory factory set to begin production by 2029. The announcement marks the latest commitment in a wave of semiconductor spending that has drawn both enthusiasm and alarm from global investors.reuters+1

South Korea's Semiconductor Mega-Push

The SK Hynix investment is part of a broader national effort unveiled by President Lee Jae Myung on June 29, in which South Korea committed to marshaling more than $500 billion in corporate spending on chips and AI infrastructure. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix together pledged 800 trillion won to build four new fabrication plants in the country's southwest, while additional hundreds of trillions of won were earmarked for AI data centers and advanced packaging.cnn+2

Under SK Hynix's plan, 80 trillion won will go toward its M17 manufacturing plant for NAND flash memory, with the remainder allocated to chip-packaging facilities in Cheongju. Samsung separately announced investment plans spanning more than 2,000 trillion won through 2040, covering fabs, AI data centers, batteries, and displays.cnbc+3

Burry Calls It 'The Beginning of the End'

The scale of Korean chip spending prompted "Big Short" investor Michael Burry to declare a bearish stance on the semiconductor sector. In a filing and subsequent commentary reported by The Wall Street Journal News Corp ↗ 3.15%, Burry wrote that he saw "the beginning of the end" after Samsung and SK Hynix announced their combined investment plans. He cited the spending as a "peak signal" for the AI rally.biz.chosun+1

Burry revealed short positions in Nvidia ↘ 1.39%, Applied Materials ↘ 7.35%, and the SOXX semiconductor ETF iShares Semiconductor ETF ↘ 5.57%, according to multiple reports. He noted the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index was trading more than 65% above its 200-day moving average, a level he said has occurred only once before — in 2000.stocktwits+2

Market Reaction

The warnings appeared to coincide with a sharp selloff. Shares of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix each fell more than 7% in early Thursday trading in Seoul, dragging South Korea's Kospi lower as the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slumped overnight. Other major chip stocks, including Broadcom ↘ 2.41%, also declined.cnbc

Whether the massive Korean investment wave represents confidence in sustained AI demand or a classic late-cycle overextension remains the central tension — one that markets are now pricing in real time.