The Big Three hyperscalers each hit an all-time high in CapEx spending in 2024, collectively investing almost $200 billion. For this episode, I speak with Charles Fitzgerald, managing director at Platformonomics, whose annual "Follow the CAPEX" report tracks the cloud providers’ spending. He pulls back the curtain on what’s driving investments, how AI and nuclear power are coming into play, and whether telcos have what it takes to sell AI workload capacity at the edge. Listen now to hear:

• What happened with hyperscaler CapEx spending in 2024 [02:49];
• Insights into the Stargate project, which aims to boost AI infrastructure and know-how in the United States [7:17];
• How the cloud providers are addressing AI’s energy needs, and the role nuclear power is poised to play [11:06]; and
• Why telcos may want to think twice before betting on selling AI workload capacity at the edge [14:25].

Links and Resources

• Read Charles Fitzgerald's 2024 retrospective on public cloud CAPEX spending and check out his Cloud Reactor Tracker.
• Take a look at Charles' 2022 paper calling on big tech companies to champion nuclear energy.
• Learn more about the hyperscalers’ nuclear energy plans.
• REad about telcos’ aspirations to make money by selling AI infrastructure at the edge:
  • Verizon execs hint at making money from AI infrastructure
  • AT&T and Verizon are pivoting into the landlord biz for AI
• This is Charles’ third time as a guest on Telco in 20. He’s working his way to our 5-Timers Club! Check out the first Saturday Night Live 5-Timers club inductee, Tom Hanks, who was ushered in by Paul Simon, Steve Martin, and other special guests.
• Watch this episode on our YouTube channel.
• You can find the episode transcript here.

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This week’s guest

Charles Fitzgerald is a Seattle-based angel investor, with a focus on developer platforms and infrastructure. Previously, he spent 20+ years working on platform businesses at Microsoft and VMware. He can see the cloud from his house.

Podcast Credits

• Executive Producer and Host: Danielle Rios, TelcoDR
• Senior Producer: Lindsay Grubb, TillCo Media
• Senior Editor/Brand Manager: Alisa Jenkins, Springboard Marketing
• Audio Editor: Andrew Condell
• Supervising Producer: Amanda Avery
• Associate Producer: Kriselda Dionisio
• Music: Dyami Wilson