A wave of record spending on artificial-intelligence infrastructure is rattling markets. Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and SpaceX signaled as much as $828 billion in combined capital expenditures for 2026, covering data centers, high-end chips and related buildouts—sums that rival the market value of blue-chip companies and approach U.S. defense outlays. The sticker shock, coupled with weak guidance from Intel, helped send the Nasdaq down 2.9% and the S&P 500 off 1.8% Friday, erasing more than $1 trillion in market value from the Nasdaq 100. Investors are increasingly focused on cash generation: four of the five heavy spenders reported negative free cash flow in the third quarter, with Microsoft a notable exception. With Big Tech comprising an outsized share of major indexes, the payback on these AI investments—and the borrowing some firms may need to fund them—now represents a key swing factor for broader market performance. Several banks project AI-related capex could reach $1 trillion by 2027, underscoring both the scale of the build and the mounting scrutiny on returns.
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