TLDR: Neoclouds can have enthusiastic customers and busy GPUs while still facing uncomfortable conversations with creditors, because a financing squeeze can arrive before a demand slump. This essay explains four pressures behind the selloff: money goes out before it comes in, delivery is harder than signing, hardware has an uncertain economic shelf life, and supposedly diversified demand can lead back to the same few wallets. As of November 9, 2026, banks and investors were becoming less willing to add AI debt even as Microsoft said demand still exceeded available capacity and rental prices were higher than a month earlier. It then looks at what happens to the largest operators, the forms consolidation can take, and what the telecom-dotcom comparison gets right. The author's view is that this squeeze will change ownership and business models before it proves that AI infrastructure was a mistake, and that the more persuasive case is a middle path in which demand keeps growing while...
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