Big 4 AI capex hits 2.4% of GDP, double the telecom bubble peak — but still below railroads
rickasaurus · x · 2026-09-27
- Deedydas notes the Big 4 tech companies' AI capex buildout now equals 2.4% of GDP, twice the peak of the telecom bubble 25 years ago — the largest infrastructure buildout in US history, surpassing even railroads.
- Economist Noah Smith pushes back: AI spending is nearing railroad levels and the decade average may exceed them, but railroads peaked at 5.4% of GDP in the 1870s and 4% in the 1880s, still the all-time benchmark.
Related event: Big Tech AI Capex Hits 2.4% of GDP, Twice Telecom Bubble Peak(2 posts)→
More from Venture
- Indie label built Pitched: AI listens to your track and writes your Spotify pitch in 20 seconds — demian_ai · 2026-11-11
- Similarweb: Claude logs record 1.253 billion website visits in October — gaganghotra_ · 2026-11-11
- a16z Podcast: Mike Volpi on What the 1990s Internet Boom Teaches Us About the AI Buildout — a16z Podcast · 2026-11-11
- Alibaba files to list chip-design unit T-Head in Hong Kong to fund AI push — pstAsiatech · 2026-11-11
- First traffic snapshot of Muse, Instinct, Hark and Fo: 60M visits in October, Muse leads with 45M — agentaya-ltd · 2026-11-11
- AI killed SEO writing moats; first-hand data is the real edge — sven_ai · 2026-11-11