Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Meta have collectively spent $1.1 trillion on AI capital expenditure since 2023, according to Financial Times reporting on the companies’ latest earnings disclosures.
The four hyperscale providers are projected to invest an additional $745 billion in the current year alone. The bulk of that spending is directed at building data centers, including chip purchases and electricity costs.
Rishi Jaluria, an analyst at RBC Capital, said the growth in capital expenditure shows no sign of stopping, and that investors need these companies to maintain a strict line between AI investment and preserving the factors that originally drove their success.
Despite concerns about returns, the investments are beginning to produce faster revenue growth, particularly in cloud computing. Google, Amazon and Microsoft all reported growth in their cloud divisions selling compute capacity. Meta, which has no cloud business, said AI has improved its ad targeting, lifting overall quarterly revenue by 28%.
