Artificial intelligence (AI) has fueled one of the largest infrastructure spending booms in history, but Wall Street is beginning to question how the bill gets paid. Billions of dollars in borrowing have financed data centers, advanced semiconductors, and the electricity infrastructure needed to power them. Now, stubborn inflation and rising interest rates threaten to make those investments more expensive. Investors who once rewarded companies for spending aggressively are increasingly demanding evidence that their investments will pay off.
The change has been especially punishing for neocloud companies whose business models depend on borrowing heavily today against the promise of future AI revenue. CoreWeave (CRWV) has become the poster child for those fears. Yet one top tech investor believes Wall Street may be misunderstanding the company's debt.
