Baltimore, MD, June 27, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- One of the most prominent companies in the artificial-intelligence boom is currently losing more than a billion dollars a month.
For every dollar it brings in, it spends at least three.
That math sits at the center of a new free presentation from financial researcher Jim Rickards, who argues that portions of today's AI industry appear to be operating in reverse of how successful businesses typically grow: companies are investing billions of dollars into infrastructure, computing power, and expansion long before the economics have fully matured.
Building First, Profiting Later
Supporters of artificial intelligence argue that today's spending is necessary to support tomorrow's opportunity.
Rickards acknowledges that possibility.
The challenge, he says, is that investors are being asked to place enormous faith in future outcomes.
Many of the largest AI investments being made today are based on projections regarding future demand, future profitability, and future adoption. It's estimated that nearly $5 trillion will be spent on AI data centers in the U.S. alone, while research from MIT has found that 95% of corporate AI initiatives have so far failed to produce a measurable return on investment.
That doesn't make those projections wrong.
It simply makes them important.
Because the larger the investment, the more important the assumptions become.
A Question Markets Eventually Ask
History shows that markets often reward vision.
But eventually they also demand evidence.
Rickards believes investors may soon receive additional information about how the economics of AI are progressing.
For example, Meta is expected to provide earnings updates and business forecasts around July 29th.
This report could help investors better understand whether spending levels remain aligned with business results. Rickards points to a similar pattern during the dot-com era: a handful of earnings misses in early 2000 confirmed that internet companies were burning through cash faster than expected, and the Nasdaq began a decline that eventually reached nearly 80%.
Why It Matters
Rickards argues that the AI boom is no longer just a technology story.
The capital supporting AI increasingly touches debt markets, retirement accounts, pension systems, and broad-market indexes. According to Rickards, much of the current buildout is being financed through complex debt structures, where leases on data centers are bundled together and sold off in tranches based on risk, a structure with notable similarities to how mortgages were packaged ahead of the 2008 financial crisis.
Analysts at JPMorgan have noted that bond portfolios, which historically moved with interest rates and bank performance, are increasingly correlated with the performance of technology companies instead, as pension and retirement funds take on more of this debt.
That means developments inside the sector may affect far more people than many realize.
About the Presentation
Jim Rickards explains why AI companies are spending unprecedented sums before many business models are fully proven—and what investors should watch next, in a free presentation available now. Click HERE to watch.
About Jim Rickards and Paradigm Press
For more than 40 years, Jim Rickards has studied the intersection of finance, geopolitics, and national security. His clients and advisory roles have included the U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve, Department of Defense, and members of the U.S. intelligence community.
Paradigm Press is one of the most widely read independent financial research publishers in the United States, rated 4.8 stars on Google across more than 1,900 reviews. Free from advertiser influence, Paradigm Press is committed to helping everyday Americans understand the forces shaping their wealth.
Derek Warren Public Relations Manager Paradigm Press Group Email: dwarren@paradigmpressgroup.com