South Korean ruling party lawmaker Kim Young-bae stated on Thursday that the country's semiconductor industry is concerned that a prolonged crisis involving Iran could hinder major tech companies' plans to build artificial intelligence data centers in the Middle East, thereby weakening strong chip demand. Kim also noted that the industry is worried the Iran crisis may disrupt the supply of certain critical chipmaking materials, such as helium, sourced from the Middle East. These remarks were made following a meeting with executives from companies including Samsung Electronics, as well as business and trade associations.