AI hyperscalers expected to finish the year spending a whopping $828 billion on capex

Spending continues to climb

The five companies’ combined spending in the first three quarters of 2026 reached $556.2 billion. That is about 20% more than the $188.5 billion they spent in the previous quarter.

Their next-quarter implied capex forecast is $247 billion to $272 billion. The lower estimate assumes Meta and Alphabet land at the bottom of their full-year spending ranges. The full-year projection is $803 billion to $828 billion.

Amazon leads the latest quarter

Amazon reported $75.9 billion in cash capex, the largest amount among the companies. CFO Brian Olsavsky said the spending was primarily tied to AWS and AI. Amazon kept its forecast for about $220 billion in cash capex this year. CEO Andy Jassy said the company expects to spend “meaningfully more in 2027.”

AI infrastructure drives investment

The reported totals include capital spending beyond AI. Still, executives at each company have pointed to AI infrastructure as the main force behind the surge and indicated they intend to sustain investment.

Alphabet CFO Anat Ashkenazi said the company continued to expect a significant rise in capex in 2027. Microsoft forecast about $170 billion in calendar-year capex, lower than its previous outlook because of delays in third-party data-center capacity.

Plans remain in development

Meta CFO Susan Li said the company was still working on its budget and capacity plans for 2027, while expecting to keep investing aggressively in its core business and emerging AI initiatives. SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, was the smallest spender in the group, with $48.1 billion in capex. CFO Bret Johnsen indicated that spending is expected to ramp up by the next quarter.