TAIPEI, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Senior executives from two of

the world's most important chipmakers, Taiwan's TSMC

and South Korea's Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ), offered

bullish outlooks for artificial intelligence at a major trade

show on Wednesday even as their stocks tanked on a fevered day

on the markets.

TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, dropped as

much as 5.5% while Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ), the world's biggest

maker of memory chips, closed down 3.5%.

The losses came after global AI darling Nvidia ( NVDA ) was

sold heavily overnight as investors reined in their optimism

about the AI sector, as well as U.S. economic growth.

Speaking to the Semicon Taiwan industry forum in Taipei,

Y.J. Mii, TSMC Executive Vice President and Co-Chief Operating

Officer, said AI remained a major growth driver even if it would

cause many jobs globally to change or disappear.

"I think in general we believe AI is a huge opportunity for

all of us in this industry," he said.

"We think there is good opportunity for growth. From an AI

accelerator point of view probably for the next couple of years

at least a 50% compound growth rate is achievable. As for longer

term, we can wait to see how it goes."

Sitting next to him on stage, Lee Jung-Bae, president of

Samsung Electronics' ( SSNLF ) memory chip business, said things were only

getting started with AI and it was natural to have bumps on the

road.

"For the AI, I really think that we are at the beginning and

there might be some ups and downs and there might be some

chasms, but quite steady in the longer term," he said.

"I believe, as far as the AI helps human beings I think it's

going to be a new revolution for changing our everyday lives,"

he added. "I am cautiously optimistic for AI."

In July, Samsung reported its highest operating profit since

the third quarter of 2022, spurred by the chip division

returning to form as the tech giant's cash cow after a slump

caused by weak post-pandemic demand for gadgets that use the

chips.

The same month, TSMC raised its full-year revenue

forecast given surging demand for AI chips.