AI Spending Boom Divides Markets and Sparks Backlash

The so-called 'Seven Magnificent' tech stocks — Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Tesla, and Nvidia — are experiencing a dramatic divergence in performance as investors scrutinize massive capital expenditures on artificial intelligence. In a single day, these companies lost $890 billion in market value, the largest one-day drop since the April 2025 tariff crisis Source: El Confidencial. Apple has gained 20% year-to-date, while Tesla has fallen nearly 30% Source: La Vanguardia.

Capex Concerns

Alphabet's stock fell 7% after reporting its first negative free cash flow since going public in 2004, driven by AI infrastructure spending expected to reach $205 billion this year Source: El Confidencial. Tesla dropped 15% after results, with capex commitments above $25 billion Source: La Vanguardia. Meta and Amazon are also expected to report negative free cash flow Source: El Confidencial. Intel, meanwhile, posted a $11 billion loss in Q2 despite a 25% revenue surge, raising its capex forecast to $20 billion Source: Portafolio.

Social Backlash

Opposition to AI is growing. In the first quarter of 2026, local groups blocked or delayed 75 data center projects worth $130 billion Source: El Mundo. Threats against AI executives have increased, including an attempted arson at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's home Source: El Confidencial. Mexico is capitalizing on the boom: Inventec is investing $450 million in a server plant in Ciudad Juárez, and Daikin Applied is leasing the largest industrial space in Tijuana's history for data center cooling systems Source: Heraldo de México. Meanwhile, the U.S. government is accelerating AI adoption for national security via the NSPM-11 directive, and Sam Altman has proposed a 5% government equity stake in OpenAI Source: Infobae.