Wall Street's biggest banks delivered a resounding verdict on Tuesday: the artificial intelligence boom is not a bubble — it is a "super cycle" that is fundamentally reshaping global capital markets.

During second-quarter earnings calls, the CEOs of Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase each described an unprecedented wave of AI-related deal-making, lending, and capital raising that is generating billions in fees and showing no signs of slowing.

'In the Middle of an AI Capex Super Cycle'

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon told investors the industry "is in the middle of an AI capex super cycle" where there are demands to utilize every single financing instrument. He described the build-out of AI infrastructure as a multi-year investment cycle that will continue to drive elevated levels of strategic activity, financing, and capital formation across markets.

Goldman was the lead left underwriter on SpaceX's record $86 billion initial public offering and is poised to play a major role alongside Morgan Stanley in the upcoming highly-anticipated listing of Anthropic. OpenAI has also filed for a U.S. IPO.

By the Numbers: Billions Flowing

The numbers paint a vivid picture of the scale:

- Citigroup earned over $70 million from a single deal — serving as joint global coordinator on SK Hynix's $26.5 billion American Depositary Receipt offering, the memory chip maker riding the AI demand wave. - Bank of America recently extended a $520 million credit line to OpenAI, its first loan to the AI company. Since 2025, BofA has raised nearly $500 billion for AI-related companies across investment-grade debt, leveraged finance, and equity capital markets — accounting for 60% of such fundraising according to internal data. - Meta Platforms is working with Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase on a roughly $13 billion financing package for a data center in El Paso, Texas. - JPMorgan Chase CFO Jeremy Barnum noted that the AI build-out is creating loan demand even in non-obvious places — "like data centers wind up creating a lot of demand for plumbers and electricians."

AI Dominating Every Conversation

Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser told investors that AI was "dominating a lot of the conversation," with spending on technology, data centers, energy, and defense accelerating across the board.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan highlighted that the U.S. economy has proved more durable than expected, "supported by the strong consumer, ongoing AI-driven investments across the board, and easing energy costs."

A Note of Caution

Despite the enthusiasm, July has been rough for technology stocks, especially microchip makers, as investors wrestle with high valuations and question the longevity of the AI capex boom. The tension between Wall Street's deal-making euphoria and the stock market's jitters reflects a broader uncertainty about whether the enormous spending on AI infrastructure will ultimately deliver the returns investors expect.

But for the banks themselves, the verdict from Tuesday's earnings was unambiguous: the AI super cycle is here, and it is rewriting the rules of global finance.

Sources