Big tech has a new favorite way to fund its AI ambitions: print shares and hope someone buys them. The problem is that “someone” needs very deep pockets, and Wall Street is starting to wonder if those pockets are deep enough.
Alphabet is planning to raise $85 billion through stock sales in the next quarter. That would make it the largest equity issuance on record. Not the largest tech offering. Not the largest this year. The largest, period.
And Alphabet isn’t alone. Meta is reportedly considering a stock offering in the tens of billions to fund its own AI initiatives. Meanwhile, pending IPOs from SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI could collectively add nearly $4 trillion in market capitalization to public markets.
The supply problem nobody wants to talk about
For years, big tech funded its growth through cash flows and balance sheets. AI changed the math. Big tech’s AI-related debt issuance reached $121 billion in 2025, more than four times the prior five-year average. Projections suggest an additional $1.5 trillion in AI-centric debt could be issued in the coming years.
Market reactions have already shown volatility among AI-related stocks. Investors are asking pointed questions about return on investment and whether the capital expenditure cycle is sustainable.
Not everyone is worried
Nicholas Colas from DataTrek Research has argued that ample capital exists to absorb new IPOs and major stock offerings. His view is that the global pool of investable wealth is large enough to digest what’s coming.
There’s some evidence supporting that position. SpaceX’s most recent IPO filing has experienced oversubscribed demand, suggesting that appetite for high-profile AI and tech names remains strong, at least for the marquee deals.
What this means for investors
The shift from self-funding to external financing represents a meaningful change in the risk profile of big tech investments. An $85 billion equity offering changes that equation directly. Every existing share becomes a smaller slice of the pie.
If nearly $4 trillion in new market cap enters public markets through IPOs alone, that capital has to come from somewhere. It either comes from new money entering the market or from existing positions being sold to fund new ones.