The AI capex cycle: are we in 1997 or 1999?

Serious question for the room. Hyperscaler capex is annualizing at levels nobody modeled two years ago. Bulls say we're in 1997 — the buildout has years to run. Bears say 1999 — ROI questions hit next year and the music stops. My take: the difference is that today's spenders fund it from free cash flow, not debt and equity raises. That alone puts us closer to '97. But watch depreciation schedules — that's where the bodies get buried.