Alex Ossola

I'm Alex Osola for The Wall Street Journal.

This is the p.m.

edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that move the world today.

Big tech companies are announcing big AI spending plans.

Meta said last week that it would spend up to $135 billion on capital expenditures this year.

And yesterday, Google parent Alphabet said it was planning to spend as much as $185 billion, about double last year.

Investors have their doubts.

WSJ Heard on the Street columnist Dan Gallagher joins me now with more.

Dan, I just laid out these eye-popping numbers for CapEx spending this year.

Is it all going to the building out of AI?

Why do these companies feel the need to do this?

What is the competitive pressure here?

So how are investors responding to the announcements of all this spending?

I mean, obviously, there's been some investor concern about AI spending overall over the past few months.

But as you said, it could be critical to some of these companies' central functions.

So what's the verdict there?

That was WSJ Heard on the Street columnist Dan Gallagher.

Thanks so much, Dan.

Reporting after the bell, Amazon said its sales rose in the most recent quarter, and the company said it expected capital expenditures of $200 billion in 2026 because, like its rivals, it's also picking up its spending on AI.

For more on Amazon's earnings, visit WSJ.com.