Capital allocation hygiene in the AI era

Capital allocation discipline is critical as AI capex surges. Recent signals: Amazon's strategic retreat from Nova models, Blackstone's AI success as allocation decision, Berkshire's $397B cash pile, and frameworks like Total Portfolio Approach and AI business case gating. Timing risk highlighted by Cisco analogy. New today (Sep 3): PwC's multi-asset energy framework (single hurdle rate, reliability as service) and management practices piece on materiality and human capital as investment reinforce long-horizon allocation. Also: Anthropic's hardware bet as a capital allocation decision—vertical integration vs. acquisition exit.