18 August 2026

Tech companies hiding $3 trillion in AI spending commitments

  • Nine major tech firms have $3 trillion in AI costs not shown on their public financial statements, including $1.2 trillion in data center leases and $1.9 trillion in hardware purchases.
  • Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta have moved into negative free cash flow, meaning they are spending more than they earn even after accounting for their known expenses.

How it was covered