Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet boost AI spending to $725 billion, signaling massive chip demand

The numbers are getting absurd, and not in the fun way. Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet have collectively guided their 2026 capital expenditure to roughly $725 billion, a figure that represents approximately a 77% jump from the $410 billion previously projected for 2025. The spending spree is driven by one thing: insatiable demand for AI infrastructure. Data centers, servers, networking gear, and most importantly, chips. The spending breakdown Amazon is leading the pack with around $200 billion in projected 2026 capex. Microsoft trails closely at approximately $190 billion. Alphabet, not content to be left behind, raised its 2026 forecast to a range of $175 billion to $205 billion after bumping the number up again in July 2026. Meta rounds out the hyperscaler quartet with a projected $115 billion to $135 billion in capital spending. Amazon’s company leadership has indicated that a considerable portion of AWS capital expenditure for 2026 already has pre-set customer commitments lined up for monetization in 2027 and 2028. Alphabet’s aggressive posture comes on the heels of an 82% annual growth rate in Google Cloud revenues. Alphabet posted a historical quarterly cash burn of $5.9 bil...