The staggering investments in artificial intelligence keep coming: Last week, AI chip giant Nvidia announced it would invest $100 billion to help OpenAI, the front-runner in generative AI, build data centers.

How are these enormous sums possible when the returns on investments, at least for now, pale in comparison?

AI-related spending is soaring worldwide, expected to reach approximately $1.5 trillion by 2025, according to U.S. research firm Gartner, and over $2 trillion in 2026 — nearly 2% of global GDP.