The writer is a professor emeritus at New York University and author of ‘Taming Silicon Valley: How We Can Ensure That AI Works for Us’
Between now and 2030, US hyperscalers like Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon are expected to spend over $5tn on compute. It is a huge bet on technology — one that has already led some tech companies to reduce buybacks and issue new debt and stock. What is it that they hope to get for their money?