Big Tech testing investors with AI spending surge

THE LARGESTTECHNOLOGY companies are betting on an AI future powered by gigantic data centres filled with humming servers.

- MATT DAY

Three bellwethers from different corners of the technology world—Alphabet, Meta Platforms and Microsoft—together racked up some $78 billion in capital expenditures last quarter. That’s up 89% from a year earlier.

Most of that cash was destined for data centre construction and graphics processing units and other gear to fill them. Each increased their forecasts for future outlays. That was enough to rattle investors conditioned to expect enormous spending. Meta warned that 2026 spending would be “notably larger” than in 2025. It’s looking to sell at least $25 billion of investment-grade bonds.