As US tech giants face growing market scrutiny over their swelling artificial intelligence budgets, China’s top technology firms are confronting a similar reckoning: proving that billions of dollars spent on AI infrastructure will yield sustainable profits. Here is a run down on how Chinese tech giants are navigating the AI monetisation challenge. Why are global investors nervous about ‘big tech’ AI spending? Despite beating revenue expectations with US$60.8 billion, Meta’s rising AI spending and a drop in free cash flow alarmed investors. Chinese tech powerhouses and frontier AI labs are locked in a parallel race, escalating capital expenditure to match domestic rivals and US competitors.