CHART: Big Tech Is Going Wild on AI Spending Next Year and Beyond [Video]

Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft are expected to invest about $300 billion in capital expenditures next year, and 2026 should be even bigger, according to new estimates by Morgan Stanley.

Most of this capex is focused on fixed assets, such as data centers and real estate. These companies, called hyperscalers due to their vast cloud networks, are in a multiyear investment cycle of epic proportions as they chase opportunities in generative AI and large language models, Morgan Stanley wrote in a note Tuesday.

“These high and rising capex numbers again speak to the importance of continued disclosure about new/incremental adoption, engagement, and revenue opportunities each of the four companies are seeing and investing in,” the bank’s analysts said.

Big Tech earnings last week showed huge demand for AI services. More data centers, GPUs, networking gear, energy, and other infrastructure are needed to deliver this technology. That’s driving eye-watering levels of spending. Earlier this …