Tech giants to ramp 2026 AI capex to about $650 billion

America’s tech titans are primed to unleash an unprecedented spending wave on artificial-intelligence infrastructure in 2026, with Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta signaling a combined $635 billion to $665 billion in capital outlays—up roughly 67% to 74% from 2025. Most of the money is earmarked for AI chips, servers and data centers as the companies race to meet surging demand for enterprise AI tools. Investors, wary of a potential bubble and keen to see tangible returns, knocked Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft shares after the announcements, while Meta rallied on stronger ad results tied to AI. Analyst Gil Luria of DA Davidson called the skepticism “healthy,” noting that scrutiny of ROI is rising even as confidence builds in AI’s transformative potential. With new offerings from Anthropic and Google’s Gemini 3 gaining traction, attention is shifting to which parts of the software stack could be disrupted by the AI buildout.

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