The biggest tech companies in the world aren’t hitting the brakes on AI spending anytime soon.

Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta all reported first-quarter earnings this week, and along with Tesla, the five companies are on track to spend as much as $750 billion this year on AI chips, servers and data centers—more than double their 2025 total.

Wall Street’s response has been mixed, with investors concerned about whether the revenue from AI will justify the massive bills. Mark Zuckerberg reportedly acknowledged this week that Meta’s spending on AI is driving an upcoming round of layoffs, which is expected to cut their total workforce by 10%.

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The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite closed April with record gains, each posting their best month in more than five years.

The latest batch of unemployment data showed just 189,000 people applied for benefits last week, well below estimates and the lowest week for claims since 1969.

WEALTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP

As Alphabet’s stock rose nearly 10% on Thursday following the company’s strong first-quarter earnings amid a surge in cloud revenue, Google cofounder Larry Page saw his net worth grow by more than $27 billion, surpassing $300 billion for the first time. Fellow cofounder Sergey Brin followed close behind, with his fortune rising to $288 billion, surpassing Jeff Bezos to become the world’s third-richest person.

Universities have been scrambling to enhance their STEM and AI offerings, but with job markets shifting dramatically, there’s a resurgence brewing in the humanities and........

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