AI Rush: Why Big Tech Is Spending More Than During Dot-Com Boom - Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cash piled up. Margins expanded. And excess capital flowed back to shareholders through aggressive buybacks and steadily rising dividends. U.S. hyperscalers became machines of financial efficiency — generating enormous free cash flow while keeping capital intensity relatively contained.That era is ending.According to Goldman Sachs analysts Ben Snider and Ryan Hammond, Wall Street consensus estimates now project hyperscaler capital expenditures will reach $667 billion in 2026 — up $127 billion since the star ...