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Now do costs.

You're also ignoring the fact that these companies have been shifting things around to make their books look better than they actually are. Here's a good example explaining how META has been keeping debt and lease obligations off its books to fuel growth (and who's at risk if META doesn't pay up):

https://www.reddit.com/r/economy/comments/1soent7/if_the_ai_...

Many tech companies operate at a loss initially, that is the point of venture markets in firms that invest heavily in R&D, the initial investment will pay off once the technology matures.

As for Meta’s shady accounting, I also inside most tech companies leverage whatever they can to remain competitive in a high growth market. They certainly have the money to get away with it though for now.

> the initial investment will pay off once the technology matures

That's not guaranteed. Just look at the Metaverse. It did not pay off.

Hasn't it cost them $100s of billions to earn that money? Don't they need $100s of billions more to keep the ball rolling?

You were talking about actual commerce, though.

Is that revenue actually tied to something in the market, or is it just all of these companies and investors blowing air into the bubble?