Another #1 is to get a good return on your money.

But tech companies horde cash because they don't have anywhere they see as a good investment.

You'd think investing in their own data centers would get a better return than cash.

Kind of makes you wonder why everyone is so eager to fund these projects for them.

Theoretically, tech companies valuations are based on the notion that the best place for them to invest money is internally, that their internal flywheel is the absolute highest return on capital.

Practically speaking, they also need to build data centers, and real estate has more pedestrian (returns and) valuations, even when it houses fantastical uber tech.

Because that’s the only place with growth

Sometimes the simplest point makes the most sense about a complex topic.

Kudos for being very succinct. I believe the youths would have just replied: "this." :~>

Good points, but after processing other replies in this post, I would change the last sentence to:

Is Meta so unsure about this investment, that they decided to spread the risk and profit to other parties, even though they could fund it themselves?

(AI bubble death knell ?)