The emergence of China’s DeepSeek has sent a chilling message to US tech giants: you don’t need to spend billions to achieve the same performance as leading AI models. But don’t tell that to Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META), and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). As far as they are concerned, the huge AI spending will continue. Last month, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the company would be committing US$80 billion in capex for its financial year ending 30 June 2025 (FY25). Then, Meta forecasted a spend of between US$60 billion and US$65 billion for 2025. Not to be outdone, Alphabet and Amazon have since projected their capex spend of US$75 billion and US$105 billion, respectively. When you add it all up, the combined spending reaches a staggering US$325 billion. Here’s the thing: there may be good reasons why the four tech giants are spending big....