Big Tech AI Capex Tops $650 Billion as Q1 Earnings Beats Pressure Bitcoin Risk Trade

Big Tech’s strong Q1 revenue beats were overshadowed by aggressive AI capex plans, sending a risk-off signal to markets and pressuring crypto. Combined 2026 capital spending across Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Alphabet is on track to exceed $650 billion, with Meta raising its 2026 capex guide to $125–$145 billion. After-hours reactions — Meta down ~6%, Microsoft and Amazon slipping on AI buildout costs — reflect investor concern that near-term depreciation and operating expenses may outpace AI revenue. Bitcoin (BTCUSD) has closely tracked megacap tech, and the article warns capex anxiety could drag Bitcoin and Ethereum into May even as cloud and AI strength may eventually underpin tokens tied to compute and infrastructure.