JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon
Software company ServiceNow dropped 27% on the same day following slower revenue growth and disappointing guidance. Amazon and Intel also came under pressure, with Intel falling roughly 25% before the market opened on Friday. The Financial Times calculated that Big Tech companies lost nearly $900 billion in market value after another sharp increase in AI spending during the third quarter. Nasdaq 100 companies lost more than $1 trillion in market value on Friday alone. Major cloud companies raised $326 billion through stocks and bonds this year to fund their AI expansion, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data cited in the Fortune report. That is more than three times the amount raised in 2025.
One concern for investors is that AI could disrupt the businesses that currently generate significant cash for technology companies, even as those same companies spend more money building AI infrastructure.
OpenAI’s GPT-6.1 Terra model reportedly costs up to half as much per token as the previous version. An index from expense-management company Ramp also showed token prices falling around 35% since the end of June, pointing to growing price competition. In an October 24 note, he argued that AI had delivered no financial payoff to corporate America outside tech.
At the same time, the cost of using AI models is falling. Apollo chief economist Torsten Slok has also questioned whether AI investments are delivering meaningful financial benefits to companies outside the technology sector. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.
In his 2015 shareholder letter, he dedicated a section to explaining what the phrase meant. As mentioned above, he discussed the phrase in his 2015 letter to JPMorgan shareholders, setting aside a section to explain its meaning. In a 1999 Fortune article with Carol Loomis, Buffett argued that a company’s competitive advantage and how long it can maintain that advantage are key considerations for investors. Its shares fell 12.6% on October 29 after its quarterly results showed that revenue from its core search business had fallen short of expectations. Its free cash flow also came in at negative $9.1 billion, compared with the negative $2.23 billion analysts had expected, according to FactSet.
Dimon has repeatedly spoken to JPMorgan shareholders about the importance of having a “fortress balance sheet”. By 2021, he had added another warning, saying that “the moats that protect this company are not particularly deep”. Jamie Dimon’s reference to a “fortress balance sheet” reflects his emphasis on maintaining financial strength and being prepared for difficult market conditions. His second warning, made in 2021, focused on the limits of competitive advantages.Jamie Dimon then said the moats protecting JPMorgan were “not particularly deep”. The term “moat” is commonly used in business to describe the advantages that protect a company from competitors.
A sharp sell-off in technology stocks has brought two long-standing warnings from JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon back into focus. The idea is that a strong balance sheet can help a company withstand financial pressure rather than struggle when markets turn against it. The idea was popularised by investor Warren Buffett . The recent technology stock sell-off has raised questions about whether the biggest companies investing in AI can maintain their market positions while spending heavily on the technology. The decline began with Google-parent Alphabet.
As investors question whether AI companies can protect their competitive advantages and justify their growing spending, Jamie Dimon’s earlier comments about financial strength and business competition offer a reminder of the risks facing even the biggest companies.