The recent gains by Amazon and Alphabet reveal a new way in which the fortunes of big tech are increasingly intertwined: much of their record profits come from gains from investments in other companies in the sector, not from their core business.

According to The New York Times' analysis, in the second quarter of 2026 Amazon generated about 65% of its quarterly income from investments in other companies – highlighting its stake in the AI firm Anthropopic – while Alphabet made about 70% of its profit from its investments, including its stake in SpaceX.

Of the roughly $315 billion in total net income for the Big Six in the second quarter, about $134 billion (about 42 percent) came from investment income from Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and Nvidia.

Amazon owns 21% of Anthropic and Google 14%, while Alphabet also owns 6% of SpaceX. It's a markedly circular cycle: the same companies finance each other, buy AI services and interconnect in new deals, raising questions about how much of the current boom is responding to real demand and how much is buying products from each other.

Source: [The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/14/business/ai-tech-profits.html). Image: The New York Times.