Who’s Financing the AI Boom? (With Bryan Whalen)

Liz Ann Sonders and Collin Martin open with a hotter-than-expected core CPI reading, broadening inflation pressures and a jump in Treasury yields, and preview earnings season with attention to whether companies can justify heavy AI-related capital spending. Collin then interviews TCW chief investment officer Bryan Whalen about the wave of spending on AI infrastructure and data centers, including how hyperscalers are tapping the corporate bond market to fund it. The episode closes with a look at upcoming macroeconomic data releases.

1. Core CPI came in hotter than expected, raising questions about the Federal Reserve's next moves and pointing to broadening inflation pressures.
2. Treasury yields jumped, and the discussion notes a continued focus on quality as higher rates pressure more interest-rate-sensitive companies.
3. Whalen says hyperscalers are increasingly using the corporate bond market to finance AI and data-center buildout, which he frames as potentially attractive in their unsecured debt.
4. His central concern is not whether AI is transformative but whether investors are adequately compensated if adoption, economics or the build-out path differ from expectations, alongside new risks in complex data-center financing structures.