Q1 2026 saw record AI funding - $297 billion including OpenAI's $122B round. But strip away the headlines and ask: where does the money actually flow? Infrastructure, training, enterprise tools, or products people use? A breakdown of capital allocation with a critical look at whether spending matches value creation.

Reuters counts 38,000 tech layoffs in Q1 2026 while AI companies raised record funding. This article digs into the disconnect: which roles are being cut, which are growing, how team structures are changing in data and ML organizations, and what the data actually shows about AI's impact on engineering jobs.