Steep bill for AI buildout punishes Meta, other tech favourites

A new round of funding for AI infrastructure sparked market pressure on Thursday, with investors selling Meta and other major names tied to the AI buildout. Reuters reports Meta fell 8% to its biggest drop since July after the company said it would issue new Class C shares with no voting power to finance AI spending and other priorities. The Nasdaq Composite was set for its largest decline in four months. SpaceX slid 9% and Nvidia dropped 4%, while Lam Research sank 10% after results, dragging the semiconductor index to its biggest fall since July. The selling focus is rising costs, higher interest rates, and investor concern about uncertain long-term ROI. Meta also reported negative free cash flow of $2.12 billion in Q3, its first cash burn in more than a decade.