Wall Street's chip index enters bear market! Is the AI bubble finally going bust?

The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index fell nearly 2% on Friday, down about 10% for the week — its largest weekly drop in over a year — though it remains up more than 60% year-to-date. The S&P 500 slipped over 1%, Nasdaq fell 2.9% for the week, Japan's Nikkei entered correction territory, and South Korea's Kospi stayed in bear market as global investors questioned the sustainability of massive AI capex by hyperscalers. Experts attributed the move largely to profit-taking and portfolio repositioning rather than deteriorating fundamentals, with Warren Buffett also cautioning that US tech giants are laying out hundreds of billions on AI.