Big Tech's AI spending spree just keeps getting bigger (www.businessinsider.com)

Google, Meta and Microsoft all used their latest earnings reports to double down on AI infrastructure, raising capital-expenditure plans and warning that 2026 spending will be higher still. Google bumped its FY capex guidance to $91–$93 billion (up from $85B in July) and reported $102.3B in quarterly revenue; Microsoft spent $34.9B in the quarter (vs. $24.2B prior quarter) and said 2026 capex will exceed 2025 as it adds GPUs and CPUs, with revenue up 18% to about $78B; Meta lifted 2025 capex guidance to $70–$72B and posted $51.2B revenue. These moves follow Nvidia’s disclosure of roughly $500B in AI chip orders and industry estimates that Big Tech capex for AI could top ~$320B in 2025. The significance is twofold: the spending validates strong commercial demand for AI services and helps justify massive infrastructure bets, but it also intensifies bubble worries among investors. Analysts say the top cloud players can likely monetize or absorb excess capacity, yet smaller suppliers and specialized providers (e.g., CoreWeave, some cloud partners) face the greatest downside if demand softens. Signs of usage flattening for some AI products add uncertainty about when and how a slowdown might occur, making the current boom powerful but potentially uneven in its downstream consequences.