How much Google, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft are spending on AI
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms Inc., during the Meta Connect event in Menlo Park, California, USA, on Wednesday, September 17, 2025.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Tech’s internet giants have made it through earnings season and offered a consistent message to Wall Street: AI investments are getting bigger.
Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft And Amazon each lifted its guidance on capital spending and now collectively expect that figure to rise to more than $380 billion this year.
Microsoft’s forecast was for fiscal 2026, which ends in June.
Companies are racing to build infrastructure for what they say is nearly unlimited demand for AI services.
Meanwhile, a growing number of skeptics are voicing concerns that these historic spending levels are fueling a bubble and questioning whether there is enough energy and resources to make AI’s big promises a reality.
As big as this week’s spending estimates are, they seem mundane compared to OpenAI, which recently announced nearly $1 trillion worth of infrastructure deals with partners. Nvidia, Seer And broadcom.
Investor reactions to the Megacap reports were mixed.
Amazon saw its shares soar after the company beat earnings and revenue and said its capital expenditures this year would be about $125 billion, down from a previous forecast of $118 billion.
“We will continue to make significant investments, particularly in artificial intelligence,” finance chief Brian Olsavsky said on the earnings call, adding that the number will increase in 2026. “We believe this is a great opportunity with the potential for strong returns on invested capital over the long term.”
Investors also applauded Alphabet, which reported better earnings and raised its capital spending forecast for this year to between $91 billion and $93 billion from a range of $75 billion to $85 billion. The stock rose 2.5% on Thursday.
But Microsoft shares fell nearly 3%, even though the software company’s results beat estimates.
CFO Amy Hood said in the earnings call that capital spending growth will accelerate in fiscal 2026, which begins in July, after the company previously said growth would slow. Capital expenditures rose 45% last fiscal year to $64.55 billion; This means a minimum of $94 billion in 2026. This figure is significantly higher when rentals are included.
Meta’s shares were hit harder on Thursday, falling 11 percent; Despite the overall rise, it experienced the sharpest decline in three years. The company narrowed its capital spending target to between $70 billion and $72 billion, from the previous range of $66 billion to $72 billion.
‘Unknown revenue opportunity’
Unlike Amazon, Microsoft and Google, Meta does not have a cloud service and does not have a clear revenue story tied to its AI investments.
Meta says the benefits from AI come from elsewhere, namely improved performance in the core digital advertising business through better targeting.
Still, analysts at Oppenheimer downgraded the stock from buy to the equivalent of hold, citing an “unknown revenue opportunity” in what the company calls superintelligence and saying investors will struggle with “aggressive revenue growth offset by higher expenses.”
By contrast, Google has “predictable earnings,” analysts wrote.
The lab would house the company’s various teams working on key models, Zuckerberg wrote in a memo at the time.
“I am optimistic that this new influx of talent and parallel approach to model development will prepare us to deliver on the promise of personal superintelligence for everyone,” Zuckerberg wrote.
But Oppenheimer analysts said this is an approach that “mirrors” the company’s metadata spending in 2021 and 2022, when Zuckerberg declares this platform is the future of computing.
Meta is still raking in billions of dollars each quarter from its investments in augmented reality. The company said in its earnings report that its Reality Labs unit lost $4.4 billion in the quarter on revenue of $470 million.
‘There is no end in sight’
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks at Microsoft Build AI Day on April 30, 2024 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Adek Berry | AFP | Getty Images
For other hyperscalers, investments in AI are largely tied to their cloud infrastructure businesses, even as they use AI companywide.
Within the scope of cloud computing, Amazon Web Services is still larger than Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud, but it’s growing slower than its rivals.
AWS saw 20% revenue growth in the third quarter, reaching $33 billion. Microsoft said Azure revenue increased 40%, while Google’s cloud sales increased 34% to $15.15 billion.
Analysts at Cantor said clouds with “large service stacks like Microsoft” are positioned to benefit from “this upgraded phase of AI infrastructure development.”
They recommend buying the stock but see reasons to worry about spending forecasts. Total capital expenditure, which includes capital leases, is poised to reach $140 billion this year, a 58% increase from the previous year, which will triple from fiscal 2024, analysts said.
Analysts wrote that this figure “reflects strong demand on the upside, but continues to cause concern with no end in sight.”
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