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This circular accounting goes deeper than just Microsoft. The AI bubble is a real concern. 🧡👊🏻🍻 I asked grok to summarize based on accusations I’ve been seeing recently. 1. **NVIDIA (NVDA) - Market Cap: $4.68T** Accused of engaging in round-tripping by investing in 49 of its own customers, including AI startups like OpenAI and CoreWeave. These investments allegedly enable the customers to purchase NVIDIA's GPUs, artificially inflating NVIDIA's revenue figures while creating the appearance of strong demand. 2. **Alphabet (GOOGL) - Market Cap: $4.08T** Google, part of Alphabet, is accused of circular financing through investments in AI firms like Anthropic. Anthropic then uses Google's cloud services, recycling the funds back to Alphabet and boosting reported revenues without genuine external demand. 3. **Apple (AAPL) - Market Cap: $3.80T** While less directly implicated in round-tripping, Apple is part of broader AI infrastructure buildouts and has been noted in discussions of strategic investments in AI ecosystems that could involve similar feedback loops, though specific accusations of circular accounting are limited. 4. **Microsoft (MSFT) - Market Cap: $3.22T** Microsoft faces accusations of round-tripping via massive investments in OpenAI and Anthropic. These AI companies then spend heavily on Microsoft's Azure cloud services, which in turn purchase NVIDIA chips, creating a closed loop that inflates revenues across the chain. 5. **Amazon (AMZN) - Market Cap: $2.58T** Amazon is accused of similar practices through investments in Anthropic, which utilizes Amazon Web Services (AWS) for computing. This setup allegedly allows funds to flow back to Amazon, masking true demand and contributing to inflated AI-related revenue. 6. **Meta Platforms (META) - Market Cap: $1.87T** Meta is involved in circular deals, including partnerships and investments in AI infrastructure providers like Oracle and NVIDIA. These arrangements are said to recycle capital within the AI ecosystem, enhancing reported earnings through interdependent spending. 7. **TSMC (TSM) - Market Cap: $1.76T** As a key chip manufacturer for NVIDIA and other AI players, TSMC indirectly benefits from the circular flow but faces fewer direct accusations. However, its role in producing chips for the AI buildout ties it to the broader bubble concerns. 8. **Broadcom (AVGO) - Market Cap: $1.57T** Broadcom, a semiconductor designer with AI networking solutions, is implicated in the ecosystem through sales to hyperscalers and potential investments. Accusations suggest it participates in the round-tripping by supplying components that fuel the interdependent AI spending cycle.<grok:render card_id="13e93a" card_type="citation_card" type="render_inline_citation"> <argument name="citation_id">18</argument> </grok:render><grok:render card_id="7461a4" card_type="citation_card" type="render_inline_citation"> <argument name="citation_id">19</argument> </grok:render><grok:render card_id="b9ee41" card_type="citation_card" type="render_inline_citation"> <argument name="citation_id">20</argument> </grok:render><grok:render card_id="d1635a" card_type="citation_card" type="render_inline_citation"> <argument name="citation_id">21</argument> </grok:render><grok:render card_id="dc8773" card_type="citation_card" type="render_inline_citation"> <argument name="citation_id">23</argument> </grok:render><grok:render card_id="ddc3ae" card_type="citation_card" type="render_inline_citation"> <argument name="citation_id">25</argument> </grok:render><grok:render card_id="113c34" card_type="citation_card" type="render_inline_citation"> <argument name="citation_id">27</argument> </grok:render><grok:render card_id="e47638" card_type="citation_card" type="render_inline_citation"> <argument name="citation_id">33</argument> </grok:render><grok:render card_id="4eb9c3" card_type="citation_card" type="render_inline_citation"> <argument name="citation_id">36</argument> </grok:render>

Yep AI is a bubble

Gotta love those Friday news dumps