Technology

The four biggest hyperscalers are set to spend $755 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026, an 83% surge from the year before, and shareholders are absorbing the cost directly. Buybacks fell 64% year over year in Q1, Amazon's free cash flow has collapsed to $1.2 billion, and Meta is on track to go cash flow negative. The era of reliable Big Tech capital returns is being traded for an AI infrastructure bet that has not yet proven out on the revenue side.