Empower Chief Investment Strategist Marta Norton said she is growing nervous about the debt being taken on by some of the nation's richest companies as a result of rampant investment in artificial intelligence — the sector largely driving President Donald Trump's 2026 stock market growth.

The concern was aired on Fox Business's “The Claman Countdown,” where host Liz Claman raised the issue on air, pointing to the amount of debt companies are shouldering in their race for AI buildout — a race increasingly financed through bond markets rather than the enormous cash flows these firms once generated.

“What about that hyper debt scale issuance? They're shouldering so much debt, and not just the hyperscalers. You know, in June, Nvidia had gone to the market with $25 billion in borrowing and even the best-in-class ones that do have a lot of cash on the balance sheet are very exposed. Do you see any negatives there?” Claman asked.

“That is something that I do think we need to watch,” Norton said. “They're building a new world and they've eaten up a lot of their cash flow, which was enviable just a few years ago, and now it's negligible. And then we have them going to the debt market. And that doesn't seem to be slowing down in any shape and form. In fact, the CapX really seems to be increasing, which would mean more debt.”

Her remarks describe a notable turn for a cohort that long served as the market's deepest reservoir of cash: capital spending on data centers, chips and related infrastructure has outrun the cash it generates, with the shortfall increasingly bridged by debt issuance. For readers following the story, the pace of new bond sales and the capital-expenditure plans of the largest AI builders are the clearest signposts to watch next.

“I just think people need to make sure they are diversifying from AI because it creeps in in ways you may not expect,” she added.

That advice reaches beyond technology portfolios. Because the AI buildout runs through so many layers of the market — from chipmakers and their suppliers to the utilities powering data centers and the corporate bonds funding construction — investors can carry substantial AI exposure through broad index funds and retirement accounts without ever buying a technology stock directly.

The debt worries come as analysts and investors take stock of volatile, up-and-down swings in oil prices and appear to be settling in for a long-term slog with Trump in the White House.

“The conflict in the Middle East and the implications for forward inflation remain the primary macro narrative and are likely to dictate price action in US rates for the foreseeable future,” Ian Lyngen of BMO Capital Markets told Bloomberg, as a drop in oil prices this week failed to keep stocks and bonds from sliding into an ugly decline. His framing underscores how energy prices and inflation expectations remain the dominant force on rates, adding a second layer of risk for equity investors already digesting the AI borrowing story.

Bloomberg reported that investors largely ignored a rise in the dollar and a drop in Brent crude below $103 a barrel after the Trump administration ordered another release of oil from emergency reserves amid a stalemate in US-Iran talks — a development the original report described as a sign that Trump's habit of temporarily lifting markets with unreliable peace claims is failing.

Separately, US job openings fell to a five-month low, suggesting employers were growing “more cautious about expanding their workforces toward the end of the summer, while layoffs remained subdued,” Bloomberg reported. “Consumer confidence dropped to the lowest level since 2014.” Hiring and confidence readings are among the indicators economists watch for early signals on consumer spending — the revenue backdrop against which companies are now carrying heavier debt loads — and whether those labor signals keep softening is another data point set to shape the debate.

This article was first published by Alternet.