Five companies. $725 billion. In one year.

That’s what Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Oracle plan to spend on data centers, chips, and AI infrastructure in 2026. Six years ago, those same five companies spent $107 billion combined. They’ve nearly septupled their capital spending in six years.

Now... most people read that and shrug. “Big tech spends a lot. Tell me something I don’t know.”

Here’s what most people get wrong. $725 billion isn’t just a big number. It’s about 2% of US GDP — spent by five firms. Amazon’s capex alone is now larger than the entire US energy sector’s. And the Apollo chief economist put it bluntly... this single chunk of corporate spending now rivals the annual GDP of Switzerland.

And here’s the part that really gets me. Ten years ago, the seven biggest AI-tied stocks were under 10% of the US stock market. Today they’re 28.7%. Almost three out of every ten dollars in your S&P 500 fund are riding on these five companies’ bet that AI will pay off.

If you own a Vanguard 500 fund or an SPY ETF, you didn’t pick this bet. The bet picked you.

Pull up your statement. Look at how much of your portfolio sits in S&P 500 index funds. Then ask yourself one question... do you know what your real exposure to these five companies actually is? Most retirees don’t. That’s a phone call to your advisor this week. Not next month. This week.