The Magnificent 7 tech companies have spent the past three years talking a very big game about artificial intelligence. They've hoarded GPUs like doomsday preppers stockpiling canned goods, shown off impressive demos of their foundation models, and racked up capital expenditure bills that could probably fund a couple of small countries.

Now comes the awkward part: actually making money from all of this.

JPMorgan is calling 2026 the AI Monetization Year, which is Wall Street speak for "show us the receipts or we're done here." This will be the first real test of whether that estimated $400 billion in spending can translate into something investors actually care about—revenue, margins, and cash flow that justifies the capex binge.

According to JPMorgan's analysis, only three of the mega-cap tech giants are walking into this year with their monetization stories intact: Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) (aka Google), Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), and Meta Platforms Inc. (META).

Google: Actually Winning Across the Board

Here's something rare in today's tech landscape: Alphabet is the only Magnificent 7 company where AI is already showing up as visible acceleration across practically everything they do.

Remember when everyone worried AI Search would cannibalize Google's cash cow? JPMorgan sees the opposite happening—more queries, better click quality, and higher pricing. Gemini 3.0 is now embedded across nearly the entire product lineup, the Gemini app has pulled in over 650 million monthly active users, and Google Cloud is expected to re-accelerate to a growth rate above 40%.

Then there's Waymo, which is scaling autonomous rides to 20 cities. Alphabet is essentially monetizing AI across ads, cloud services, subscriptions, and mobility simultaneously. That's a pretty compelling full-stack story.

Amazon: The Comeback Story Hiding in Plain Sight

AWS was supposedly losing the AI race. JPMorgan thinks 2026 will prove that narrative completely wrong.

Trainium chip upgrades, growing Bedrock adoption, strategic model partnerships, and Amazon's massive data gravity are setting up AWS for 23% growth—an acceleration most investors weren't expecting. Meanwhile, retail fundamentals are improving, margins are expanding, and the advertising business keeps compounding.

Even with capital expenditures climbing toward $153 billion, JPMorgan still projects free cash flow will double. In a year when AI companies need to prove they can turn spending into profits, Amazon suddenly looks like it might be flying under the radar.

Meta: The Steady Grower With a Secret Weapon

While investors fret about Meta's spending levels, JPMorgan sees a company entering 2026 with 20% revenue growth, AI-enhanced advertising performance, and the company's first major MSL model release on the horizon.

It's probably the cleanest monetization story of the three. The advertising engine is already generating serious cash, and any upside from the model layer is just that—upside, not something the business depends on to work.

The Magnificent 7 built the AI era with bold visions and massive bets. But in 2026, only a handful look truly ready to collect on those investments.