Singapore state investor Temasek is happy with high AI spending

Singapore's state investor Temasek is not worried about the huge spending on artificial intelligence by tech giants, according to a top company executive. Speaking in Boston on Thursday, Temasek North America Head Jane Atherton said the companies funding this digital infrastructure believe their large investments will bring good returns as AI use grows. Atherton noted that the companies building this technology have some of the strongest financial balance sheets in the world and Temasek remains very positive on the sector. Global bond selloffs and expectations of tighter money policies have raised doubts about whether tech giants can keep up such massive spending during a time of high interest rates. Analysts predict that major cloud and tech companies will spend over one trillion dollars by 2027 to buy costly computer chips and build data centers. Temasek, which holds about 400 billion dollars in total assets, already owns stakes in AI firms like Anthropic and OpenAI. The investment firm plans to grow its AI exposure from about 6 percent right now to as much as 15 percent of its total portfolio over the next five years. Meanwhile, holdings in the Americas make up 26 percent of the firm's portfolio, with major investments in companies like BlackRock, Mastercard, and Nvidia. Addressing concerns about AI safety and warnings from some leaders that rapid tech growth could risk human survival, Atherton said those questions must be handled by governments and the developers themselves. She joked that she does not know how to price the end of humanity, adding that if it happens, nothing else will matter.

Context

State investment funds like Temasek manage large pools of public money for long-term financial growth and economic development. Major technology companies often spend heavily on data centers and specialized computer chips to power complex machine learning models. Global investors watch these spending trends closely because tech infrastructure requires massive upfront capital before showing steady financial returns.