AI Spending Spree, Crypto Winter, and Kara's Message to Jeff Bezos

What It Covers

Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway examine massive AI infrastructure spending by tech giants totaling $660 billion, cryptocurrency's steep decline with Bitcoin down 43% from peak, Scott's "Resist and Unsubscribe" campaign generating 100,000 daily site visits, and Jeff Bezos's mismanagement of The Washington Post following layoffs and CEO departure.

Key Questions Answered

• •AI Capital Expenditure Scale: Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft plan to spend a combined $660 billion on AI infrastructure in 2025, representing a 60% increase from 2024. This exceeds three times the global pharmaceutical industry's R&D budget and surpasses the cost of building the US interstate highway system, equivalent to $2 billion daily spending on AI development and infrastructure.
• •Corporate Tax Reduction Impact: Amazon's corporate tax bill dropped from $9 billion to $1.2 billion under Trump's new tax law despite profits jumping 45%, demonstrating how capital expenditure expensing provisions dramatically reduce tax obligations. This pattern repeats across major tech companies, with corporate taxes as percentage of GDP reaching historic lows while corporate profits reach historic highs as GDP percentage.
• •Subscription Cancellation Economics: Each subscription cancellation generates approximately $10,000 in market cap reduction for big tech platforms, with subscription revenues now representing 40% of S&P 500 value. The Resist and Unsubscribe campaign demonstrates that targeting subscription revenue creates measurable market pressure, with conversion rates of 2-4% translating to roughly 10,000 daily unsubscribes across multiple platforms.
• •AI Investment Timing Indicator: When tech advertising exceeds 25% of Super Bowl commercials, it historically signals market corrections. This occurred in 2000 with dotcom companies and 2022 with crypto firms before major crashes. In 2025, 15 of 66 Super Bowl ads were AI-related, suggesting potential AI market correction based on historical patterns of excessive advertising spend preceding downturns.
• •Media Consolidation Strategy: The Washington Post requires either prepackaged bankruptcy to clear unsustainable cost structures or acquisition by established media infrastructure like Bloomberg, New York Times, or Wall Street Journal. The brand retains value but needs 40-60% staff reduction and elimination of administrative overhead to achieve economic viability, with current ownership demonstrating incompetence in media operations.
• •Prediction Market Disruption: Kalshi recorded 4 million downloads in January 2025, up from under 2 million in December 2024, while traditional gambling apps DraftKings and FanDuel gained only 100,000 downloads combined. Prediction markets are transferring significant market capitalization from gaming companies, with Flutter Entertainment earnings estimates cut 50% and DraftKings down 29% as speculation markets capture gambling market share.