On February 5, 2026, Amazon.com Inc. delivered a financial disclosure that will likely be remembered as a watershed moment in the history of the technology sector.1 While the company reported robust fourth-quarter results—with net sales accelerating 14% year-over-year to $213.4 billion and Amazon Web Services (AWS) revenue growing at its fastest clip in three years—the narrative was entirely subsumed by a singular, staggering forward-looking metric: a projected capital expenditure (Capex) budget of approximately $200 billion for fiscal year 2026.2 This figure, representing a 52% increase over the record $131.8 billion spent in 2025, signals an aggressive, unilateral escalation in the artificial intelligence arms race.2

The market’s immediate reaction—a sharp sell-off of ...