Big Tech Spent $230B on AI, But Its Cash Flow Is Now Deep in the Red

Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle collectively spent $230 billion on capital expenditure in the third quarter of 2026, which is more than double the amount recorded a year earlier.

According to Binance Research, their combined operating cash flow stood at just $199 billion, which leaves free cash flow at negative $32 billion, a sharp reversal from the $61 billion surplus reported a year ago.

AI Spending Boom

Despite the growing gap, companies are showing little interest in slowing down. Amazon maintained its 2026 capex outlook at around $220 billion, while Alphabet projected spending of $195 billion to $205 billion, with another significant increase expected in 2027.

Microsoft remains the only company among the five still funding its spending through cash flow. Debt is increasingly filling the gap as AI-related US dollar bond issuance reached roughly $419 billion by mid-October, already around 90% higher than the total for all of 2025.

Investors are also becoming more selective. Alphabet shares dropped 12.6% after its results, while Meta fell 7%, as both companies raised spending expectations despite negative free cash flow. The pressure spilled into crypto markets too. Bitcoin slipped below $80,000 twice in October as technology stocks weakened. Binance Research also flagged a change in derivatives positioning, as traders reduced exposure to semiconductor stocks and increased bets on companies investing heavily in AI infrastructure.

In the near term, crypto remains vulnerable to further swings in AI sentiment. Binance Research believes crypto could have an advantage over the longer term if the AI-driven stock rally starts to lose steam. Bitcoin has gained relatively little from the rally in AI-related stocks, which means that it may have less exposure if investors begin pulling money out of the sector.

bStocks Crosses the $1B Mark

Meanwhile, bStocks has reached $1 billion in assets under management (AUM) just 125 days after launch, hitting the milestone in less than half the time taken by other issuers. But its growth is not just about the amount of tokenized stocks being issued. According to Binance Research, 18.54% of bStocks’ active assets are now being used across DeFi, compared with the industry average of 13.91%. This essentially suggests that more investors are putting their tokenized stocks to work through on-chain financial services rather than simply holding them.

bStocks also accounted for more than 60% of the growth in the tokenized stock market during the period. The figures point to growing demand for tokenized equities that offer more than just ownership, including 24/7 trading and access to DeFi applications such as lending and liquidity pools. Higher DeFi usage could also allow more capital to flow into these services without requiring a similar increase in the number of tokenized stocks.