Author
Ritu Raj
Builds voice AI agents, and writes here on the capital and infrastructure behind the AI buildout.
Contributing Analyst, Zan Digital. 18 pieces published, citing 80 sources. Everything under this byline is held to the published methodology.
Published work
18 pieces- 001AI Capex 2026: The $725B Bet With No Payback MathFour hyperscalers plan roughly $725B of capex in 2026, up 77% on 2025. Here is where the money goes, what it earns today, and the three numbers to watch.
- 002AI Circular Deals: Who Actually Pays Whom, and How MuchNvidia's up to $100B commitment to OpenAI was finalised at $30B. A map of the AI circular deals: what is signed, what is only intent, and why it matters.
- 003AI Debt Issuance: The Credit Story Behind the BuildAI-related debt issuance is on track for roughly $570B in 2026. Hyperscaler bond issuance quadrupled. How the build is being funded, and why it changed.
- 004AI Spending Is Enormous. GDP Has Not Noticed YetMultiple analyses report no measurable AI contribution to US GDP growth so far. Whether that is a measurement lag or an absence of return, and how to tell.
- 005AI Took 61% of Venture Capital. What Happens to OthersAI startups took 61% of global venture funding in 2025, up from 30% in 2022. What that concentration does to hiring, valuations and exits outside AI.
- 006Alphabet's $80B Equity Raise: Why Cash Ran ShortAlphabet raised $80 billion in equity in June 2026. Its filings show free cash flow fell 82% in six months and buybacks stopped at $0. What that signals.
- 007Anthropic IPO: The Enterprise Listing That Resets PricingAnthropic filed confidentially on 1 June 2026 for an October listing. A $47B run rate, 85% enterprise revenue, and why the mix matters more than the number.
- 008Cursor at $2B ARR: Fastest SaaS Ever or Most Fragile?Cursor doubled revenue in three months to $2B ARR and sought funding near $50B. The growth is real. So is the question about whether the moat is.
- 009Dot-Com vs AI Bubble: Six Metrics Where It Breaks DownEveryone compares 2026 to 2000. On six metrics, from P/E ratios to profitability, the comparison mostly fails. Here is the one place it does hold.
- 010Down Rounds: How to Read an AI Cap Table in 2026Structured terms are reappearing in AI rounds priced at extreme multiples. What liquidation preferences, ratchets and participation actually do to your equity.
- 011GenAI ROI: Why 95% of Pilots Show No Return, and Who DoesMIT found 95% of GenAI pilots show no measurable P&L return. What the 5% did differently, where the money is really being made, and how to measure your own.
- 012GPU Depreciation: The $176B Accounting Question in AIHyperscalers depreciate AI hardware over 5 to 6 years. One investor puts the resulting overstatement at $176B through 2028. Both sides of the argument, checked.
- 013Inference Costs Are Rising. The Software Margin MythClassic software had near-zero marginal cost. AI does not. Why per-token price cuts have not produced falling bills, and what it means for AI gross margins.
- 014Is Your AI Startup a Feature? The Kill Zone TestModel providers keep absorbing capabilities that were standalone products a year earlier. Five questions to test whether your product survives the next release.
- 015OpenAI IPO: What a Delay Past 2026 Actually SignalsOpenAI filed confidentially in June 2026, then weighed a delay rather than list below $1T. What the numbers say about why, and what each outcome means.
- 016The AI Chip Selloff: Dress Rehearsal or False Alarm?Chip and AI hardware stocks fell sharply in late July 2026 and recovered within a week. Fast recoveries signal conviction or complacency. Five indicators.
- 017The AI Revenue Leaderboard: Who Has Real RevenueCommitments, run rates and bookings get reported as if interchangeable. A ranking by revenue quality rather than headline number, with what each figure means.
- 018The SaaSpocalypse: How Software Lost Its Valuation PremiumEarly 2026 erased hundreds of billions in software market cap on the bet that AI replaces SaaS. What happened, and whether the repricing was rational.