Tom Lee Says Today’s AI Buildout Is Not an Enron-Style Warning Sign

Tom Lee says today’s AI infrastructure buildout should not be viewed as an Enron-style warning sign, despite concerns over off-balance-sheet financing.
Lee compares the current AI spending cycle to the 1990s dot-com and fiber boom, when companies used IRUs and revenue swaps to create large amounts of contractual revenue.
He argues that today’s AI spending is led by companies with sizable moats, high profit margins, and strong returns on capital. Putting all AI infrastructure spending on balance sheets could also absorb too much global capital and make it harder to democratize AI.