Google and Tesla shares plunge as AI spending rattles markets

Anat Ashkanazi, Google's chief financial officer, noted on a call with financial analysts that the company had recorded negative free cash flow due to growing capital expenditures, essentially all of which were related to AI spending.

Though Google parent Alphabet saw its business continue to grow in recent months, heavy spending on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure pushed its leftover cash into negative territory.

It was the first time Google had seen the cash metric turn negative since it became a public company in 2004, according to its financial records.