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WSJ: Nine Big Tech Firms Carry $3T in AI-Related Off-Balance-Sheet Commitments, Dwarfing $600B Capex

By Alexis Dufresne Published August 17, 2026 at 11:00 UTC

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Summary

A WSJ analysis found nine top tech firms — Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, Nvidia, Broadcom, SpaceX and AMD — carry roughly $3 trillion in AI-related off-balance-sheet commitments, versus about $600 billion in reported 12-month capex. Alphabet alone lists $811B in purchase and contractual commitments as of June 30; Meta discloses $347B in uncommenced leases and Nvidia $182B in forward purchase commitments. Michael Burry, short Oracle and Nebius, warned the hyperscalers use 5–6 year useful lives for chips that economically depreciate in 2–3.

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"Nine top tech companies had some $3 trillion of off-balance-sheet commitments mostly related to AI, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of footnotes in their most recent securities filings" www.wsj.com/tech/ai/w…
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Original headline: WSJ: Nine Big Tech Firms Carry $3T in AI-Related Off-Balance-Sheet Commitments, Dwarfing $600B Capex