AI hyperscalers are rushing to bolster computing power, but it's making some investors nervous.
Meta and Microsoft disclosed AI capex surge: Meta +55% expenses to $42B (2026 capex $130-145B), Microsoft +70% to $41B, two-thirds for CPU/GPU. The capex race raises investor ROI concerns and asset obsolescence risk, forcing tech leaders to weigh cloud partnership against in-house hardware investment.
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Microsoft and Meta reported ballooning AI costs on Wednesday, but Microsoft still managed to increase its profits, while Meta posted a sharp earnings decline.
Why it matters: AI hyperscalers are rushing to bolster computing power to accelerate their tech ambitions, but it's getting extremely expensive and causing some investors to get nervous.
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