$380 billion! From Microsoft and Meta to Amazon and Alphabet — tech giants on spending spree amid AI boom

As earnings season progresses in the US, tech internet giants have made it clear to Wall Street that the next big investments will be investments in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet and Amazon will collectively spend $380 billion this year as tech giants reap gains, he said.

Companies also removed their guidance on capital expenditures, saying they would spend more than they expected.

This comes as companies including Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet and Amazon are racing to invest and build infrastructure in what they tout as an unlimited demand for AI services.

Amazon’s investment

Amazon Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said he expects full-year capital spending to be around $125 billion and higher next year. However, he did not provide specific details about where Amazon would use this capital expense.

“We will continue to make significant investments, especially in the field of artificial intelligence,” Olsavsky said, adding: “We believe this is a great opportunity with the potential for strong returns on invested capital over the long term.”

“We continue to see strong demand for AI and core infrastructure and are focused on increasing capacity,” CEO Andy Jassy said.

Alphabet betting on AI

Google parent company Alpabet also raised its capital spending forecast as it reported a decline in earnings.

Alphabet expects to budget between $91 billion and $93 billion for capital expenditures this year, CEO Sundar Pichai told investors. That was above a July capital spending forecast of $85 billion as tech giants rushed to spend more on artificial intelligence, a concept experts have warned against.

Pichai said 2026 will likely bring an even bigger bill.

Anat Ashkenazi, Alphabet’s chief financial officer, told analysts to expect a significant increase in the company’s capital spending next year.

What is Meta’s goal?

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is incorporating AI into social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

The company narrowed its investment spending target on Wednesday, announcing that the amount of spending this year will be between $70 billion and $72 billion, compared to $66 billion and $72 billion previously.

Meta also signaled more spending, saying that investment spending will increase much faster in 2026 than this year.

“There are various timelines for people to think we will have superintelligence,” Mark Zuckerberg said on a conference call with analysts.

“I think this is the right strategy to aggressively front-load capacity so that we are prepared for the most optimistic situations,” he added.

How Microsoft is pushing its AI goals

Microsoft, which announced its first-quarter results on Wednesday, also saw an infrastructure spend to meet growing demand for cloud services.

The tech giant reported a record capital expenditure of nearly $35 billion. The company said in its earnings release that capital spending will accelerate in fiscal 2026, which begins in July.

CFP Amy Hoods said capital spending rose 45% last fiscal year to $64.55 billion, indicating it could rise to $94 billion by 2026.

artificial intelligence bubble

Major tech companies are expected to spend nearly $3 trillion on infrastructure like data centers between now and the end of 2028, according to Morgan Stanley.

However, rising AI spending, along with skyrocketing valuations of tech companies and limited evidence of productivity gains for businesses adopting AI, are already spooking investors. Experts warned that the artificial intelligence bubble could burst at any moment.