Tech selloff puts AI’s price tag under scrutiny

The Nasdaq 100 fell about 3% as a technology-led selloff deepened on Friday, after earnings gave investors another reminder of how expensive the AI buildout has become. Amazon signaled that heavy spending on data centers and computing capacity would continue, while Intel warned of cash burn, adding to concerns that the industry’s investment is arriving faster than the profits needed to justify it. The retreat erased roughly $900 billion in market value from major technology companies, according to the Financial Times. The point is not that investors have abandoned AI; they are becoming less willing to reward enormous spending plans without clearer evidence of when those outlays will translate into durable returns.