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Five US tech giants' hidden debts soar to $1.65T on opaque AI funding

Five US tech giants' hidden debts soar to $1.65tn on opaque AI funding

asia.nikkei.com

July 21, 2026

1 min read

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Summary

Hidden debt among five U.S. tech giants has surged to approximately $1.65 trillion due to significant investments in artificial intelligence. Meta's off-balance-sheet debt is around $420 billion, nearly three times its reported transparent debt.

Key Takeaways

Hidden debt among five major U.S. tech companies has increased to an estimated $1.65 trillion due to rising artificial intelligence investments.
Meta's off-balance-sheet debt is approximately $420 billion, nearly three times its reported transparent debt.
The surge in hidden liabilities complicates risk assessment for investors.
The increase in hidden debt has grown eightfold over the past four years.

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Five US tech giants' hidden debts soar to $1.65T on opaque AI funding ↗

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Community Sentiment

Negative

Positives

There’s a sense that these debts might not matter if the US government prioritizes AI tech like it did with the Manhattan Project — suggesting a potential safety net for the industry.

Concerns

Commenters are worried that off-balance-sheet debts could lead to a crisis similar to Enron's, raising serious transparency concerns about the long-term health of these tech giants.
The sheer scale of the debts compared to the investments in AI raises eyebrows; if companies need trillions just to compete, it indicates a troubling dependency on government support.