The hidden menace behind Big Tech’s AI arms race: Meta, Amazon, and others are spending billions on hardware that’s worthless in 3 years, says CEO of Research Affiliates

Research Affiliates CEO Chris Brightman argues that hyperscalers' rapid GPU replacement cycles—driven by AI competition—create unsustainable economics. While companies officially depreciate hardware over 5–6 years, Brightman's analysis shows AI equipment becomes economically obsolete in ~3 years as performance gains render older chips unprofitable. Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta are burning cash on LLM products while maximizing hardware spending to maintain competitive moats in cloud, search, and social media.