Amazon

Tech’s AI Debt Surge Cools Market Fever

Published

2 weeks ago

November 22, 2025

The revolution of so-called hyperscalers is reaching ever more colossal proportions. Tech companies’ gamble on artificial intelligence is measured in hundreds of billions of dollars — investments that until recently came exclusively from astronomical, yet finite, profits. The sector still needs more data centers, and to finance them, it has begun turning to the debt markets, raising investors’ concerns and cooling the market’s previously warm embrace of technology.

Oracle, the most indebted of the major players and one that has pinned its future on contracts with OpenAI, is at the center of these doubts: its shares have fallen 33% from their September peak. Its debt is taking a hit as well, trading below par, while credit default swaps on its bonds — a measure of financial risk — have risen to levels unseen in three years, dragging along those of other companies with high AI exposure and weaker credit histories.

The market is anticipating a debt glut and has gone on alert; financing investments with borrowed money is very different from paying for them out of multimillion-dollar profits. According to J.P. Morgan’s estimates, building the global infrastructure of data centers and AI, along with the necessary energy supplies, will cost more than $5 trillion by 2030. Of that total, only $1.5 trillion will come from companies’ organic cash flow; the remainder will require major tech firms to turn to the capital markets. “It will be an extraordinary and sustained capital markets event,” the bank concludes.

The bank estimates that over the next five years, the major tech companies exposed to AI — Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Oracle — will need to issue $1.5 trillion in bonds, with $300 billion expected just in 2026, more than half of what the U.S. Treasury issues. “If anything like our forecast plays out, AI/Data Center related sectors could represent north of 20% of the market by 2030,” the report notes.

For now, just between September and October, tech giants have raised $75 billion in investment-grade bonds, and they are expected to close the year issuing more than $200 billion in debt, through both private placements (to venture capital funds with less transparency) and public markets. All of this is aimed at funding $380 billion in investments to build AI-related infrastructure.

So far, Oracle and Meta have shown the greatest capacity to finance their AI strategies, followed by Alphabet (despite Google’s parent company holding $100 billion in cash). Alphabet kicked things off in May with an $11 billion issuance, and Oracle followed in September with a record-demand $15 billion issuance. In October, Meta raised $30 billion in bonds and another $27 billion through private market deals to fund a data center in Louisiana, U.S. This was done via a special-purpose vehicle (SPV), allowing a company to finance a specific project without the debt appearing on its balance sheet.

This surge has prompted UBS to express “concerns over concentration risk,” as the issuances are concentrated in a handful of companies: Meta, Oracle, Alphabet, Broadcom, and Dell. The spreads on some of these bonds are already widening. Banks are deploying a range of exotic financial instruments in response, including data center-backed mortgage bonds and ABS (asset-backed securities). Bank of America estimates that next year, the market for data center securitizations could reach $110 billion.

Chillers that cool water are connected to a data center building during a tour of the OpenAI data center in Abilene, Texas, U.S., September 23, 2025

Rising investments and questions about profitability

Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg revealed that the company will invest around $600 billion in AI-related infrastructure in the U.S. alone; just in 2025, it plans to spend $71 billion, a figure it expects to nearly double by 2027. For now, it has some leeway: it anticipates increasing its debt fourteenfold over this period (from $4 billion to $59 billion). However, this will come at the expense of its share buyback programs — which will drop from $35 billion to $5 billion — and will cut free cash flow by more than half.

Oracle’s AI gamble — driven by its agreement with OpenAI — has made it, in just a few quarters, the most indebted investment-grade tech company and the only one with negative cash flow. While J.P. Morgan notes that its debt maturities are manageable, it warns about rising interest rates and large future investment commitments.

Revenue pressure adds to the risk: by 2028, one-third of its income will come from a single client, OpenAI. This scenario has led Barclays to predict that rating agencies may downgrade Oracle to BBB– (S&P and Moody’s have already placed it on negative outlook), just above junk status, and that the company may need to turn to private debt markets — which are less transparent and more expensive. The British bank even recommends buying credit default swaps (CDS) on Oracle, a signal that has already pushed its CDS higher. Bondholders have recorded losses of up to 7% in just over six weeks.

This instability is also affecting other tech companies exposed to AI but with weaker credit histories, though not the major hyperscalers, which remain largely insulated. Coreweave, which is backed by Nvidia and holds significant contracts with Meta, saw its stock plunge 30% in a week, while five-year CDS on its bonds rose 13% in the same period.

J.P. Morgan also questions whether these massive investments will generate real profitability. According to the report, achieving a 10% return on all the required investment over the next five years would require the major tech companies to generate $650 billion in annual revenue in perpetuity. “An enormous amount,” the report notes — equivalent to $180 per month from every Netflix subscriber or $34.72 from every current iPhone owner. “Even if everything works, there will be (continued) spectacular winners, and probably some equally spectacular losers,” it adds.

Adding to the concerns about profitability is the potential systemic impact of AI on the market. The Bank of England recently noted that while the sector’s systemic impact has so far been limited — concentrated mainly in stock market gains — the high financing needs of these companies could affect both the debt market and commodity markets, particularly copper, which is heavily consumed in data center and AI infrastructure.

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If AI Replaces Workers, Should It Also Pay Taxes?

Published

4 days ago

November 30, 2025

Laura Delle Femmine

if-ai-replaces-workers,-should-it-also-pay-taxes?

It can’t be seen or touched, but it’s shaking up markets and attracting investment. Artificial intelligence (AI) has become the object of desire for Big Tech, which is pouring astronomical sums into its development, fueled by record profits. The other side of this frenzy is workforce reductions, with automation as the backdrop, announced by multinationals like Amazon, Meta, and UPS, which, incidentally, threaten to extend the impact of new technologies to another area: public coffers. Fewer people working means fewer taxpayers, so the question naturally arises: if machines and algorithms replace humans in their jobs, should they also have to cover the taxes that humans stop paying?

Labor, through income tax and social security contributions, is one of the pillars of the tax systems of almost all countries, and the impact of automation on the tax base — or, in other words, the potential decrease in revenue — is not a new concern. In 2019, Nobel laureate Edmund Phelps proposed a tax on robots to help maintain social benefits. Shortly before, Bill Gates, founder of one of the world’s largest technology companies, Microsoft, which has its own artificial intelligence (Copilot), had suggested applying the same tax burden to robots as would be borne by the workers they replace.

“The trend toward automation and AI could lead to a decrease in tax revenues. In the United States, for example, about 85% of federal tax revenue comes from labor income,” says Sanjay Patnaik, director of the Center for Regulation and Markets at the Brookings Institution. He suggests that governments address “the risks posed by AI” by increasing capital gains taxation rather than creating a specific tax on it, due to the difficulties in designing such a tax and the distortions it could generate. The repeated use of the conditional tense is because the impact of generative AI, the kind capable of creating content on demand, is still uncertain, both in positive terms — improved productivity and economic growth — and negative terms; job losses.

Even so, forecasts are mixed. Goldman Sachs, for example, estimates that AI will boost global GDP by 7% over the next decade; the IMF predicts it will contribute up to eight-tenths of a percentage point annually to growth between now and 2030. On the other hand, the International Labour Organization estimates that one in four workers worldwide, concentrated in high-income countries, holds a job with some degree of exposure to AI, but at the same time predicts that most jobs will be transformed rather than disappear.

“We know there will be an impact, but it’s difficult to quantify,” confirms Luz Rodríguez, a professor of labor law and a former Spanish Secretary of State for Employment. “The previous wave of automation affected employment in the middle of the production chain; generative AI is targeting higher up the ladder, more skilled jobs that require critical thinking,” she summarizes. “I’m not optimistic, but I am positive: there are jobs being created that wouldn’t exist without new technologies, such as content moderators on social media or Bitcoin miners.”

Daniel Waldenström, a professor at the Stockholm Institute for Industrial Economics, rejects the idea of a specific tax on AI, arguing that there has been no significant increase in unemployment, even in the United States, the birthplace of these new technologies and a leader in their implementation. He also emphasizes the difficulty in defining it precisely: “What are automation, robots, or AI? A chip, a humanoid machine, an application, or a computer program? We will never be able to define it precisely. We should continue taxing what already exists: income from labor, consumption, and capital gains.”

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also joined the debate. In a report published last summer, the organization’s economists reached a mixed conclusion: they did not recommend specifically taxing AI — as this could stifle productivity and distort the market — but urged governments to remain vigilant against potential disruptive scenarios. Their proposals included raising taxes on capital — which have been decreasing as the tax burden on labor has increased — creating a supplementary tax on “excessive” corporate profits, and reviewing tax incentives for innovation, patents, and other intangible assets that, while boosting productivity, can also displace human jobs.

Carl Frey, associate professor of AI and Work at Oxford University and author of the book How Progress Ends (Princeton University Press, 2025), holds a similar view: he does not support an AI tax, but acknowledges that the tax system has become unbalanced. “In many OECD economies, we have seen an increase in income taxes and a decrease in capital taxes,” he notes. This system incentivizes companies to invest more in automation than in job-creating technologies. “Addressing this imbalance is essential to supporting the job-creating technologies of the future.”

The recent moves by major tech companies and the evolution of tax systems in recent years justify this concern. Amazon, for example, has announced a 38% increase in profits and multimillion-dollar investments in AI, while simultaneously reporting 14,000 job cuts worldwide. Meanwhile, corporate tax rates have plummeted in the last decade in OECD countries, from 33% in 2000 to the current 25%; the tax wedge for workers — income tax and social security contributions — has decreased by only 1.3 percentage points in the same period, from 36.2% to 34.9%.

Susanne Bieller, secretary general of the International Federation of Robotics, argues that applying ad hoc taxes stems from “a problem that doesn’t exist,” since automation and robots “create new jobs by increasing productivity.” She warns that taxing production tools instead of business profits “would have a negative impact” on competitiveness and employment. “We need incentives for [European] companies to use technologies like robots and digitalization to remain competitive globally,” she concludes. “The world faces a labor shortage of approximately 40 million jobs per year […] Robots cannot take over entire jobs, but they can handle certain tasks.”

Inequality

In addition to employment, the soaring spending of major tech companies on AI and the surge in their stock prices are causing concern, raising fears of a bubble. Analysts also warn that the energy consumption of these technologies is so high that their climate footprint could offset the promised growth benefits.

In the best-case scenario, the new jobs created by AI could be “more productive, better paid, and more accessible,” offsetting job and tax losses, predicts Patnaik. However, the latent — and very likely — risk remains that the process will not be automatic. Job creation could be delayed, less-skilled professionals could struggle to adapt, and a gap could emerge between countries — and within them — and across productive sectors.

MIT economists Daron Acemoğlu and Simon Johnson warned about this in 2023. “Over the past four decades, automation has increased productivity and multiplied corporate profits, but it has not led to shared prosperity in industrialized countries,” they cautioned in a document for the IMF. “Technology and artificial intelligence produce social impacts that are relevant to politics. We cannot allow technological determinism,” Rodríguez asserts. “The debate is necessary, and we will go wherever we want to go.”

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Los Auriculares Inalámbricos Mejor Valorados De Amazon Tienen Un 73% De Descuento Durante Black Friday

Published

5 days ago

November 29, 2025

David Rodriguez Madera

los-auriculares-inalambricos-mejor-valorados-de-amazon-tienen-un-73%-de-descuento-durante-black-friday

Si hay algún tipo de producto que destaque especialmente en Black Friday, son los auriculares. Este evento es la oportunidad perfecta para comprar esos auriculares que tanto llevamos esperando a un precio mucho más bajo de lo normal. Ya sea porque buscas unos auriculares en oferta de grandes marcas o porque esperas encontrar unos auriculares económicos y de buena calidad a un precio inmejorable, Black Friday es el momento adecuado para encontrar los mejores productos tecnológicos rebajados.

Estos auriculares inalámbricos tienen un descuento del 73% solamente durante Black Friday y cuentan con una excelente calidad de sonido. Son perfectos para quienes buscan unos auriculares con gran capacidad de autonomía y resistentes.

Sonido potente y de calidad

Una de las características que más destaca de estos auriculares es que prometen mantener una conexión estable incluso estando a 15 metros de tu dispositivo. Esto, sumado a la gran calidad de sonido que son capaces de reproducir gracias al altavoz profesional de 13 mm, que ofrece un sonido muy natural y unos graves muy potentes, hace que estos auriculares sean una gran inversión para quienes valoran que el sonido sea lo más claro posible.

Cancelación de ruido, diseño ergonómico e impermeables

Si buscas unos auriculares que te sirvan para aislarte de tu entorno mientras lees, estudias o trabajas, la tecnología de cancelación de ruido de este modelo filtra el sonido ambiental, cancelando hasta un 80% del ruido que hay a tu alrededor. Además, estos auriculares se adaptan muy bien a la forma de la oreja y apenas pesan 3,5 gramos cada uno, por lo que son muy cómodos para usar durante horas. Y si los quieres usar para hacer deporte, es importante tener en cuenta que son impermeables y resistentes al sudor.

Gran capacidad de autonomía

La batería de estos auriculares puede durar hasta 8 horas seguidas, pero aguanta hasta 56 horas de uso combinando el estuche de carga. El estuche cuenta con pantalla LED para controlar la batería que les queda a tus auriculares y saber si necesitas conectarlos a la corriente. Además, en solo una hora puedes recargar completamente el estuche, gracias a que dispone de carga rápida por cable USB-C.

Los auriculares mejor valorados de Amazon

Si no quieres gastarte una fortuna en unos auriculares, pero tampoco quieres renunciar a que tengan una gran calidad de sonido y autonomía, estos auriculares son una de las mejores opciones que puedes encontrar en Amazon durante Black Friday. Una valoración media de 4,9 sobre 5 estrellas y más de 2.000 unidades vendidas solamente durante el mes pasado avalan su calidad y eficacia.

Preguntas frecuentes

¿Estos auriculares se conectan fácilmente a cualquier dispositivo?

Sí, estos auriculares son compatibles con iOS, Android y cualquier dispositivo con Bluetooth.

¿Puedo controlar las funciones de reproducción y llamadas?

Todo se maneja desde el control táctil. Con un solo toque puedes pausar, reproducir, cambiar de canción, ajustar el volumen o atender llamadas.

[Recuerda que si eres usuario de Amazon Prime, todas las compras tienen gastos de envío gratuitos. Amazon ofrece un período de prueba gratuito y sin compromiso durante 30 días.]

*Todos los precios de compra incluidos en este artículo están actualizados a 29 de noviembre de 2025.

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Amazon

Las Mejores Ofertas De Calefactores Y Radiadores De Black Friday Para Calentar Tu Casa Este Invierno

Published

5 days ago

November 29, 2025

Lucia Munoz Villarejo

las-mejores-ofertas-de-calefactores-y-radiadores-de-black-friday-para-calentar-tu-casa-este-invierno

Con la bajada de las temperaturas, el hogar vuelve a convertirse en el refugio principal frente al frío. Mantener un ambiente cálido y confortable es clave para el bienestar diario, y los pequeños calefactores y radiadores eléctricos se han convertido en una solución práctica para quienes buscan calidez inmediata sin grandes complicaciones. Este Black Friday, las ofertas disponibles permiten acceder a modelos más eficientes y asequibles, ideales para reforzar la calefacción de cualquier estancia del hogar.

Desde EL PAÍS Escaparate, te traemos un listado de calefactores y radiadores que no te puedes perder si estás buscando un dispositivo de este estilo para el invierno.

Taurus Gobi 2000 W

Este calefactor es ideal para quienes buscan una solución rápida contra el frío. Sus 2000 W permiten calentar estancias pequeñas en pocos minutos, y su tamaño compacto facilita colocarlo en cualquier rincón. Es perfecto para dormitorios, despachos, para ponerlo en el baño cuando te vas a duchar o para llevarlo de una habitación a otra sin esfuerzo. Una opción práctica para obtener calor inmediato sin gastar mucho.

22% de descuento, ahorra 4,71 euros.

Rowenta My Nomad SO8231F0

Un modelo pensado para quienes buscan más comodidad y un funcionamiento silencioso. Su tecnología cerámica distribuye el calor de forma uniforme y con un consumo más ajustado, por lo que es adecuado para usarlo durante más tiempo. Compacto, ligero y con termostato regulable, resulta especialmente útil en salones o habitaciones donde se quiere mantener un ambiente cálido sin ruidos molestos.

35% de descuento, ahorra 18,52 euros.

Mellerware Homy Ceramic 2000 W

El equilibrio entre potencia, diseño y eficiencia. Gracias a la tecnología cerámica, este calefactor ofrece un calor agradable sin sensación de aire seco. Es una buena elección para estancias de tamaño medio y para quienes buscan un aparato estable, fácil de usar y con varias opciones de temperatura. Su tamaño reducido lo convierte en un aliado práctico para el invierno.

15% de descuento, ahorra 6 euros.

Black+Decker BXMRA1500E – Radiador de mica 1500W

Este modelo utiliza placas de mica, un mineral que se calienta muy rápido y permite que el radiador emita calor casi al instante, ideal para habitaciones de hasta 15 m². Ofrece dos niveles de potencia (750 W y 1500 W) para adaptar la intensidad según tus necesidades. Su termostato regulable mantiene la temperatura estable encendiendo y apagando el aparato de forma automática. Incorpora protección contra sobrecalentamiento y una rejilla que evita el contacto directo con la placa caliente. Al no usar ventilador, es silencioso y cómodo para utilizar incluso por la noche.

31% de descuento, ahorra 34 euros.

Grunkel RACP-100D (Radiador de aceite 1000 W)

Una opción eficiente para habitaciones pequeñas. Su potencia moderada ofrece un calor suave y progresivo, perfecto para mantener la temperatura estable sin un consumo excesivo. Es silencioso, fácil de mover y cuenta con protección contra sobrecalentamiento, por lo que es adecuado para quienes buscan un ambiente más acogedor sin grandes aparatos.

20% de descuento, ahorra 14 euros.

El Black Friday se presenta como una buena ocasión para reforzar la calefacción del hogar con aparatos prácticos, eficientes y al alcance de cualquier presupuesto. Ya sea para obtener calor rápido al llegar a casa o para mantener una temperatura estable durante horas, existe un modelo para cada necesidad y estilo de vida. Con opciones cada vez más compactas y seguras, apostar por un calefactor o radiador portátil puede ayudar a crear un ambiente más agradable y reconfortante en los días más fríos del invierno.

Preguntas frecuentes sobre los radiadores y calefactores

¿Cuál es la diferencia entre un calefactor cerámico y un radiador de aceite?

Los calefactores cerámicos calientan rápido y son ideales para estancias pequeñas o uso puntual. Los radiadores de aceite tardan más en calentarse, pero mantienen la temperatura durante más tiempo y distribuyen el calor de forma más constante, siendo más adecuados para salones o habitaciones que se usan varias horas al día.

¿Qué potencia necesito según el tamaño de la habitación?

Como regla general, para estancias pequeñas (10–15 m²) bastan 1000–1500 W. Para habitaciones medianas (15–25 m²) se recomiendan 1500–2000 W. Salones grandes o muy fríos pueden requerir hasta 2300 W o más. Elegir la potencia adecuada permite calentar de manera eficiente sin gastar electricidad de más.

¿Qué medidas de seguridad debo tener en cuenta al usar un calefactor o radiador eléctrico?

Es importante que tenga protección contra sobrecalentamiento y, si es portátil, función de apagado automático en caso de vuelco. Evita colocarlos cerca de cortinas, muebles o agua, y no los dejes funcionando durante la noche sin supervisión. Además, usar modelos con termostato regulable ayuda a mantener la temperatura estable y segura.

[Recuerda que si eres usuario de Amazon Prime, todas las compras tienen gastos de envío gratuitos. Amazon ofrece un período de prueba gratuito y sin compromiso durante 30 días.]

*Todos los precios de compra incluidos en este artículo están actualizados a 29 de noviembre de 2025.

Puedes seguir a EL PAÍS ESCAPARATE en Instagram, o suscribirte aquí a nuestra Newsletter.