Big Tech Buybacks Shrink as AI Spending Surges; Only $3.4B in Q1

A surge in AI investment has left just one of the four major players — Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon — repurchasing its own shares in the first quarter of 2026: Microsoft, at $3.4 billion, a roughly decade-low for the group. The steady share buybacks that long propped up Big Tech stocks are faltering as the generative-AI race intensifies.