Oracle has offered a ready-made example of the cash-burning side of AI: it announced a $20 billion financing plan spread over four years just last week, and it was all used up in a single morning. The stock fell 6.4% intraday, to its lowest level since July. Its market cap has shed more than $60 billion since Investor Day. In short, no matter how grand the story, the books have to add up first.

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