BlackRock’s Larry Fink predicts AI bankruptcies: ‘That’s capitalism’
· Fortune
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink isn’t losing sleep over the possibility that some of the biggest players in AI could go bankrupt. In fact, he’s counting on it.
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During a panel discussion at BlackRock’s 2026 Infrastructure Summit this week, the CEO of the world’s largest asset manager made it clear that as AI transforms the economy, at least “one or two” bankruptcies are inevitable.
“That’s capitalism. We’re going to have some huge successes, and we’re going to have a couple failures. OK. I’m good with that,” Fink said.
But that doesn’t mean he wants Big Tech to put a stop to its sky-high AI infrastructure investment. Instead, he wants more investment, which he said is especially important for the U.S. to beat China in the AI race.
“They may in the short run overinvest, but the long-term demand will catch up,” Fink said.
One CEO of an unnamed hyperscaler told Fink they were happy to keep spending, even if it turns out they are overinvesting. “The one thing I can tell you with certainty, I can’t be third,” Fink said the CEO told him.
The BlackRock CEO’s comments come as capital expenditures from hyperscalers like Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta are predicted to reach $650 billion over the next 12 months, according to investment banking advisory firm Evercore ISI. That’s nearly a 70% increase from the $380 billion they invested in 2025. Some analyses say this spending could reach the trillions in the next three to five years.
For Fink, this type of competition and investment is fundamental to the way the U.S. economy is supposed to work.
“This is the beauty of capitalism, my gosh, having our five hyperscalers, six hyperscalers, and a new entrant beating up each other to try to have the best model. That is capitalism at its best,” he said.
BlackRock did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
Yet, the heavy spending on AI is putting some Big Tech companies at risk of going cash flow negative by spending more than they bring in, Evercore noted in a report last month. While this doesn’t mean a company is unprofitable, Evercore said it is a “red flag” for their stock valuations.
For now, these tech companies have corporate debt levels below the median of S&P 500 companies, but these levels are also rising because of the increased capital expenditures, Evercore noted.
Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle issued $121 billion in corporate bonds in 2025, significantly higher than the $28 billion the companies averaged over the previous five years, according to Bank of America analyst Yuri Seliger.
Oracle, in particular, stands out among the group, having issued $26 billion in debt last year with plans to issue between $45 billion-$50 billion this year, Fortune reported. To be sure, Oracle in its most recent quarterly earnings reported a 22% year-over-year increase in its overall revenue fueled by surging cloud infrastructure revenue, which is closely tied to AI.
That helped ease concerns about debt-fueled spending eventually paying off. For his part, Fink isn’t worried.
“Their return on equity is still better than mine and I have a pretty good return on equity,” he said with a laugh.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com