The rising threat to the global financial system

Business

Banking & finance

AI

Opinion

Stephen Bartholomeusz Senior business columnist November 10, 2025 — 11.58am

Until now, questioning of the boom in investment in artificial intelligence has largely been confined to whether it constitutes a stockmarket bubble. Increasingly, the conversation will shift to whether that boom represents a threat to financial system stability.

The first phase of the sector’s development has been largely, albeit not entirely, equity funded, with the mega techs – the so-called “hyperscalers” like Google, Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Amazon – funding their massive investments in chips and data centres from their massive cash flows.

Between them, those companies will spend $US375 billion ($577 billion) on AI infrastructure and chips this year and c