Overview
- Research group S&P Global Visible Alpha warns that sustained high oil prices and the Middle East conflict could force tech giants to cut or delay 2026 AI capital plans that were set at about $635 billion.
- Data centers use huge amounts of electricity, so higher power costs can erase expected returns on new sites and slow construction timelines as utilities and developers scramble to secure generation and grid capacity.
- Nvidia remains a key counterweight to cutback fears, with CEO Jensen Huang pointing to roughly $1 trillion in orders for Blackwell and Rubin platforms through 2027 as analysts keep broadly positive ratings on leading AI names.
- Meta now carries a fresh legal overhang after a New Mexico jury found it misled teens about safety on its platforms, and the stock shed about $310 billion in market value in March as investors weighed litigation risk and heavy AI outlays.
- Spending has not stopped: Meta plans to lift its El Paso data center investment to $10 billion with a 1‑gigawatt target and local hiring, and CoreWeave closed an $8.5 billion loan backed by its chips and a Meta compute contract, underscoring both demand and rising financing needs.