Artificial Intelligence Financing and the Crisis of American Manufacturing

While Wall Street provides hundreds of billions of dollars in funding for artificial intelligence development projects, critical minerals and the American manufacturing sector are falling behind financially. According to Reuters data, capital expenditures by major technology companies have exceeded 730 billion dollars, while the International Energy Agency reported that global critical mineral investments have declined.

While financial markets allocate massive resources to artificial intelligence technology with uncertain profitability, they struggle to finance the industrial infrastructure that forms the basis of the physical economy. According to Reuters news dated October 7, 2026, the combined capital expenditure plans of the world's largest technology companies have exceeded 730 billion dollars for the year. Morgan Stanley, on the other hand, projected in June that global artificial intelligence-linked debt issuances could approach 570 billion dollars in 2026.

In contrast, according to the International Energy Agency's 2026 Global Critical Minerals Outlook report, global investments in critical minerals declined by 9 percent in 2025. Although public financing commitments in advanced economies reached approximately 65 billion dollars, exceeding the 2023 level, this figure covers commitments rather than actual disbursements and is spread across a wide range of critical mineral projects.