Top Stories This Morning: New U.S. Rules for AI, a Plunge in Chipmakers’ Stocks and the South Korean Stock Market

Stock indices in Asia plummeted due to a sharp sell-off of chipmakers’ stocks. The Donald Trump administration is finalizing a voluntary system for reviewing advanced AI models before their public release: OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google have already received a draft of the document and proposed their own amendments. Microsoft unveiled its MAI-Cyber-1-Flash AI model for detecting cyber vulnerabilities for the first time. Read about these and other topics in our roundup of key events as of the morning of July 28.

Shares of Asia’s largest semiconductor manufacturers fell sharply following another decline in the U.S. sector, according to CNBC. In South Korea, SK Hynix shares lost more than 13%, Samsung Electronics fell more than 12%, and Samsung SDI, LG Innotek, Seoul Semiconductor, and LG Chem also declined. In Japan, Tokyo Electron and Advantest fell by more than 10%, SoftBank dropped 6%, and Kioxia fell by more than 18%. In Taiwan, TSMC shares fell 2.9%; China’s ChiNext 300 index lost 4.7%; and the Hong Kong index of Chinese chipmakers fell 5%.

Analysts attribute the sell-off to uncertainty surrounding the outlook for AI investments, concerns that memory prices may have peaked in the coming years, and reports of China’s progress in the production of memory and lithography equipment. At the same time, experts believe that the industry’s long-term outlook remains positive, as demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure will continue to support leading chip manufacturers.

South Korea's KOSPI index plummeted by nearly 10%: the exchange suspended trading twice—first for five minutes due to the activation of the sidecar mechanism, and then for 20 minutes after the circuit breaker was triggered, according to CNBC. Against this backdrop, shares of Hanwha Ocean, one of South Korea’s largest shipbuilders, fell by more than 8%.

Pressure on Hanwha Ocean shares intensified after Nomura lowered its target price from 75,000 to 63,000 won (from $51.3 to $43.07) and maintained its “sell” rating. Despite the company’s record operating profit for the first half of the year, analysts consider its valuation to be too high and expect market conditions to deteriorate in the second half of 2026.

The Donald Trump administration is close to finalizing a voluntary system under which AI developers will submit their most advanced models to the government prior to their public release, The Information reports, citing sources. A draft of the document has already been sent to OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, which have proposed their own amendments. The framework is being developed in accordance with Trump’s June 2 executive order and is expected to be approved by August 1. Its goal is to establish uniform criteria for defining “cutting-edge” models and to standardize their review for national security risks, replacing ad hoc measures such as export restrictions against Anthropic and requirements for a phased rollout of GPT-5.6.

At the same time, companies still have questions about which models will be subject to the new rules, whether closed and open models will be evaluated equally, and how voluntary participation will be following the White House’s recent actions. According to The Information, the review of models is planned to be jointly overseen by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI). It also remains unclear what consequences await companies that refuse to participate in the program, the publication notes.

Oil prices continued to fall after the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran held, easing concerns about disruptions to energy supplies, according to CNBC. On the morning of July 28, September Brent futures fell by more than 2% to $86.4 per barrel, while WTI futures dropped 2.4% to $80.6. Although Tehran has denied reports that it agreed to a 10-day ceasefire, both sides have so far refrained from launching new attacks.

Reports that Donald Trump had abandoned plans for a large-scale strike against Iran amid concerns over weapons stockpiles put additional downward pressure on prices, although he later stated that the U.S. had sufficient ammunition. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia noted that the risk of an immediate escalation had decreased, but warned that the situation around the Strait of Hormuz could still lead to a renewed escalation of the conflict and threats to global oil supplies.

Apple has once again become the world’s most valuable company, surpassing Nvidia in market capitalization for the first time since April 2025, according to CNBC. At the close of trading, Apple’s market value reached $4.95 trillion after its shares rose 1%, while Nvidia’s shares fell 5%, reducing the company’s market capitalization to $4.77 trillion.

Since the beginning of 2026, Apple’s stock has risen 24%, while Nvidia’s has gained only 5%. Investors view Apple’s more cautious approach to AI spending positively: the company prefers to lease computing power rather than build its own infrastructure. Market attention is also gradually shifting from graphics processor manufacturers to suppliers of memory and other data center infrastructure. On Thursday, July 30, Apple will release its quarterly earnings report, in which it is expected to disclose for the first time the impact on its business of the global memory chip shortage caused by the AI boom.

Microsoft unveiled its first specialized AI model for cybersecurity, MAI-Cyber-1-Flash, stating that, when combined with GPT-5.4, it outperforms solutions from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI in CyberGym tests, delivering comparable results at half the cost, according to CNBC. The model will be part of Project Perception—a suite of AI agents designed to detect and remediate vulnerabilities—which will begin public testing on August 3. This is the company’s first major step in expanding its cybersecurity efforts following the return in February of former Google executive Hayet Gallo.

Microsoft believes that specialized AI models will help defend against cyberattacks more effectively, as attackers have also begun actively using generative AI to search for vulnerabilities. The company continues to develop its own models alongside its partnership with OpenAI, aiming to reduce computing costs and enhance its AI products. According to Mustafa Suleiman, head of Microsoft AI, the company used less than 1% of its available data to train the new model, leaving significant potential for further improvement of its capabilities.

— Japan's broad-based Topix index fell 2.5%, while the Nikkei 225 fell 4.1%.

— Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.1%, while mainland China's CSI 300 Index fell 2.6%.

— In South Korea, the KOSPI plummeted 10.4%, and the KOSDAQ fell 8%.

— Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5%.

— Nasdaq 100 futures were down 1%, S&P 500 futures were down 0.3%, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were virtually unchanged.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor