A lot of people are yet to come to terms with the fact that AI is a critical piece of the future, just as crypto and blockchain has been pushed against since inception.
But this is all happening and the scale of funding tells a story.
This isn't a tech trend that will fade away in five years, this is a multi-generational utility being built in real time.
On February 10, 2026, Alphabet sold a rare 100-year bond — the tech industry's first century bond since Motorola's issuance in 1997, according to LSEG data. The sale was part of a $31.51 billion global bond raise, as artificial intelligence-driven spending is sparking a surge in borrowing among U.S. tech giants.
The structural details are striking. The centerpiece was a £1 billion (approximately $1.37 billion) century bond maturing in February 2126, carrying a 6.125% coupon. The offering was initially targeted at $15 billion but was upsized to $20 billion after drawing over $100 billion in orders — nearly five times oversubscribed. — AI report summary
Permanence
Seeing that most of us won't be here in 100 years, unless longevity tech improves and we're lucky enough to all have access and choose to use it, the bigger signal here is that AI has been concluded to be a permanent infrastructure for and of the future.
Debt of this scale is searching for long-term commitment and as the report highlights, it found it.
Google needed $15 billion, for a period of 100 years, but instead got demand worth $100 billion and had to increase raise to $20 billion.
The combined spending tab of the five hyperscalers; Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Oracle, exceeds $600 billion for 2026 and over 75% of that is going towards AI-related infrastructure.
This is more money than the U.S. energy sector spends annually on drilling, refining, and delivery.
A bubble?
The AI is a bubble arguments are usually funny to me because it's usually people that only sees AI to be an image and content generator.
Most of which are free-tier testers.
Anyone who has used the technology extensively, through various integrations knows that AI isn't some simple app on Apple or Playstore.
It's an engine that will replace so many infrastructures the world runs on today.
The larger-focus monetization layer will be systems integration that most won't see.
The tech securing the power grids will be AI-powered, the defense sector will be AI-powered, the smart cities, the social algorithms, the health systems, all of it, will move towards machine intelligence.
Every fund raise, such as Alphabets', points to this reality.
Image credit: Thairath Online