AI Companies Are Trying to Hide a Staggering Amount of Debt
AI Companies Are Trying to Hide a Staggering Amount of Debt
人工智能公司正试图隐藏巨额债务
AI companies are pouring untold billions of dollars into enormous data centers in their efforts to sustain increasingly complex and resource-intensive AI models. It’s an extremely costly undertaking built on seemingly bottomless hype — and a mountain of debt. 为了维持日益复杂且资源密集的人工智能模型，人工智能公司正投入数以十亿计的美元用于建设庞大的数据中心。这是一项极其昂贵的工程，建立在看似无底的炒作和堆积如山的债务之上。
As Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei Asia found in a recent investigation, just five US tech giants — Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Oracle — are hiding an estimated $1.65 trillion in debt that doesn’t appear on balance sheets. That’s even more than the $1.35 trillion in debt the five companies officially reported in their financial data for the most recent quarter. 据日本财经媒体《日经亚洲》（Nikkei Asia）最近的一项调查发现，仅五家美国科技巨头——Alphabet、微软、亚马逊、Meta 和甲骨文——就隐藏了估计达 1.65 万亿美元的债务，这些债务并未出现在资产负债表上。这甚至超过了这五家公司在最近一个季度财务数据中正式报告的 1.35 万亿美元债务。
Meta alone has amassed around $420 billion in off-balance-sheet debt, according to Nikkei, highlighting how precarious the AI industry’s steep investment in AI has become, and inspiring comparisons to energy company Enron, which collapsed in spectacular fashion in 2001 because of similar debts hidden behind shell companies. 据《日经亚洲》报道，仅 Meta 一家公司就积累了约 4200 亿美元的表外债务。这凸显了人工智能行业在 AI 领域的高额投资已变得多么岌岌可危，并引发了人们将其与能源巨头安然公司（Enron）进行比较——安然公司曾因通过空壳公司隐藏类似债务，于 2001 年轰然倒闭。
Like Enron, they’re using special purpose vehicles, or off-balance sheet arrangements such as legally distinct subsidiaries, as a way to make their financial reporting look healthier than it actually is — often a glaring sign that something is deeply amiss behind the scenes. 与安然公司一样，这些科技巨头正在利用特殊目的载体（SPV）或法律上独立的子公司等表外安排，使财务报告看起来比实际情况更健康——这通常是一个明显的信号，表明幕后存在严重问题。
“The accounting treatment itself is in fashion,” technical accounting consultant Tom Selling told Bloomberg. “But what if one of these companies was a house of cards and was propping itself up with this accounting treatment? To me, that’s the risk.” “这种会计处理方式本身就很流行，”技术会计顾问汤姆·塞林（Tom Selling）告诉彭博社，“但如果其中一家公司只是空中楼阁，全靠这种会计处理来支撑呢？对我来说，这就是风险所在。”
Experts continue to warn of an AI bubble, noting the enormous and widening gulf between company valuations and their comparatively measly profits. The latest news will do little to quiet critics who say the situation is more dire than the companies’ official balance sheets suggest. 专家们不断警告人工智能泡沫的存在，指出公司估值与其相对微薄的利润之间存在巨大且不断扩大的鸿沟。最新的消息将无法平息批评者的声音，他们认为实际情况比这些公司官方资产负债表所显示的更为严峻。
To keep up with the ongoing AI race, tech giants are committing vast sums to build out large-scale data center projects, a long-term bet that may — or may not — pay off. They’re also selling new shares to raise new funds, as Nikkei reports, which could lead to equity dilution and a drop in investor confidence. 为了在持续的人工智能竞赛中保持领先，科技巨头们正投入巨资建设大规模数据中心项目，这是一场可能——也可能不会——获得回报的长期赌博。据《日经亚洲》报道，他们还在通过增发股票来筹集新资金，这可能导致股权稀释并打击投资者信心。
That could make them even more vulnerable if the AI bubble does pop, or the industry fails to generate enough demand to justify the data center construction frenzy. The pressure is on: four of the five companies Nikkei analyzed are set to report second quarter earnings in the coming days and weeks. We’ll be watching. 如果人工智能泡沫破裂，或者行业无法产生足够的需求来支撑数据中心的建设狂潮，这可能会使它们变得更加脆弱。压力已经到来：在《日经亚洲》分析的五家公司中，有四家即将在未来几天或几周内公布第二季度财报。我们将拭目以待。