Alphabet $GOOGL is taking part in a $1.5B prepaid electricity deal in California, its second this year, with Goldman Sachs $GS arranging tax-exempt bonds that will fund discounted power for Central Coast Community Energy. Alphabet is the first technology company to take that funding role, while Meta has gone a different route, signing a 20-year deal for about 2,600 MW of nuclear power from Vistra $VST. With prepaid energy issuance at a record $36.5B this year, power is becoming a financing story as much as a supply story, which keeps Constellation Energy $CEG, Cameco $CCJ and Forgent Power Solutions $FPS in focus as AI power demand grows.

Alphabet’s $766 billion October wipeout could have paid for 258 Hoover Dams. The dam cost about $120 million in the 1930s, just under $3 billion today, adjusted with the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ CPI Inflation Calculator. Read more:

Alphabet $GOOGL spent $61.1B on research and development last year, more than Intel's entire 2025 revenue of $52.9B! R&D spending in each company's latest fiscal year: 1. Alphabet $GOOGL: $61.1B 2. Meta $META: $57.4B 3. Microsoft $MSFT: $35.6B 4. Apple $AAPL: $34.6B 5. Nvidia $NVDA: $18.5B 6. Intel $INTC: $13.8B 7. Broadcom $AVGO: $11.0B 8. Oracle $ORCL: $10.3B 9. AMD $AMD: $8.1B 10. Tesla $TSLA: $6.4B Meta's R&D bill jumped 31% in a year, from $43.9B to $57.4B, and it also spent more than Intel brought in. Nvidia spends less than a third of what Alphabet does on R&D, even though its revenue is more than half of Alphabet's. Note: Amazon doesn't break out R&D as its own line, so it isn't on the list.