The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that Google parent Alphabet on Wednesday missed Wall Street profit and revenue expectations, and AI spending accelerated its cash burn, sending its shares down more than 10 per cent in extended trading. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says capital expenditures, driven by artificial intelligence, will increase significantly in 2027, said chief financial officer Anat Ashkenazi, adding that this year's capex forecast was unchanged. Ms. Ashkenazi said she also expected near-term margin pressure from the use of third party cloud capacity. The tech giant reported negative free cash flow of $9.07-billion, compared with analyst expectations that it would come close to breaking even (all figures U.S.). The results reflect the huge costs of the AI build-out, with investors in the sector concerned both by potential overspending and the risk of falling behind rivals by not spending enough. The quarterly cash burn is an increase from $5.9-billion in the prior quarter. Alphabet's cash burn was driven by spending to boost cloud capacity and finance AI research. The tech giant's total revenue for the third quarter was $127.6-billion, short of analysts' estimate of $128.2-billion.