Wall Street pushes back on AI spending as OpenAI cuts target and Meta faces credit warning

Wall Street is pushing back on massive AI spending, with OpenAI cutting its fundraising target to $20 billion from $30 billion and S&P Global downgrading Meta's outlook to "negative" due to cash flow concerns. The funding cut also lowered OpenAI's valuation to $1.25 trillion from $1.4 trillion, while rival Anthropic's strong IPO filing upstaged the round. Alphabet's stock fell 12% on Thursday after its cash flow sank deeper into negative territory, spooking investors. S&P warned Meta's leverage could top 1.0x by 2027, with capital expenditures reaching $140 billion this year and free cash flow remaining negative through 2028. However, some analysts view the retrenchment as healthy for the AI boom's long-term durability.