FILE PHOTO: Wiring sits inside of the Data Hall of the Microsoft data center campus, currently under construction, after Microsoft's Vice Chair and President Brad Smith announced a plan to spend $4 billion on an additional artificial intelligence data center, in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, U.S., September 18, 2025. REUTERS/Audrey Richardson/File Photo
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Spending updates this week from U.S. megacap companies that are investing massively in artificial intelligence could jolt the AI trade that has been a primary driver of the record-breaking U.S. stocks rally.
Capital spending is a crucial component of the AI trade that has propelled equities following the launch of AI assistant ChatGPT in November 2022. With the benchmark S&P 500 up about 17% year-to-date and 90% since the bull market began just over three years ago, investors are on guard for any weakness while wary of parallels with the dot-com market bubble 25 years ago.
