A Wall Street Journal Report on $3 Trillion in Off-Balance-Sheet AI Commitments Recently Tanked Vertiv and GE Vernova. Here's What Actually Changed.
The headline's jaw-dropping number is terrifying. It just may not matter.
Overview
Most investors understand that technology giants like Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), and Facebook parent Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) are spending a fortune on artificial intelligence infrastructure. What they may not fully appreciate is just how much money these companies have earmarked for AI infrastructure investments.
That's the big takeaway from recent reporting from The Wall Street Journal. Digging deeper into all of the industry titans' disclosure documents, reporters Peter Rudegeair and Peter Santilli found that artificial intelligence powerhouses like Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and the aforementioned Alphabet collectively have an additional $3 trillion in AI-related liabilities -- like data center leases and technology purchase commitments -- that aren't reflected on their balance sheets.
Details
For perspective on that number, the biggest names in the business are jointly budgeting on the order of $750 billion worth of infrastructure this year alone, and that's been viewed by investors as a jaw-dropping figure.
Source
Originally published at www.fool.com.