Concerns grow over AI giants’ hidden debts - Semafor

What the report says

Semafor reported on July 21, 2026, that technology shares recovered from a recent selloff tied to worries about a potential artificial intelligence bubble, even as investor attention shifted toward the scale of debt linked to the sector’s data center expansion. The rebound included notable gains for major chipmakers Samsung and TSMC, while tech-heavy indexes in South Korea, Taiwan and China also moved higher as investors continued to expect strong demand for semiconductors.

The concern highlighted in Semafor’s item centers on obligations associated with Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Oracle. Citing Nikkei’s review of financial statements, Semafor said those companies had accumulated $1.65 trillion in what was described as hidden or off-balance-sheet debt related to building out data centers, an eightfold increase over four years.

According to the report, the companies are betting that future earnings from AI and cloud-related services will be sufficient to cover those commitments. However, Semafor noted that Nikkei said the market had started to show concern, and that Morgan Stanley and Moody’s had also flagged the issue in their own reports.

The development matters because data centers are the physical backbone of the AI boom, requiring large upfront spending on land, chips, power, cooling and network infrastructure. If future revenue growth falls short of expectations, large long-term commitments could become a bigger concern for investors, lenders and credit-rating analysts. The available source text does not specify the exact composition of the debt, the accounting treatment for each company, or any individual company response.