(Yicai) June 30 -- Cambricon Technologies, a major designer of artificial intelligence chips, led gains among China’s AI-related equities amid surging global investment in the technology, soaring to a new all-time high and briefly becoming the first stock on Shanghai’s tech-heavy Star Market with a market capitalization of CNY1 trillion (USD147.2 billion).

After touching CNY1,620 per share earlier today, Cambricon [SHA: 688256] closed 7.7 percent higher at CNY1,595.55 (USD235), taking its year-to-date gain to 71 percent.

Other major firms in the AI infrastructure space also advanced. Foxconn Industrial Internet [SHA: 601138], a unit of Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry, ended up 3.7 percent at CNY72.15 (USD10.62). Optical communication devices maker Zhongji Innolight [SHE: 300308] added 4.1 percent to CNY1,270, and Hygon Information Technology [SHA: 688041], which develops central processing unit chips, gained 4.4 percent to CNY370.30.

Businesses worldwide are expected to spend USD940 billion on AI this year and USD2.1 trillion in 2029, Robert Parker, senior vice president of market research firm International Data Corporation, said at its annual IDC Directions forum in April. The global technology sector is entering its most significant growth cycle in the past 30 years, he said.

South Korea’s government yesterday unveiled the Asian country’s biggest investment in AI in partnership with Samsung Electronics and SK Group. Under the plan, the government will invest KRW1.46 quadrillion (USD943.6 billion), while Samsung and SK will invest KRW2.66 quadrillion and KRW2.1 quadrillion, respectively.

“The question of AI’s return on investment has already been answered,” Jensen Huang, Nvidia chief executive, said at the US chip giant’s shareholders’ meeting last week. “This infrastructure build-out will be measured on a multi-decade timescale, similar to other critical infrastructure projects such as power grids, transportation systems, and the internet.

“We believe it will become the largest infrastructure undertaking in human history,” Huang said.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Tom Litting