Alphabet just told the world it plans to spend between $175 billion and $185 billion on capital expenditures in 2026. That’s more than double what it spent last year, and the vast majority is headed toward AI compute capacity, data centers, and Google Cloud infrastructure.
To put that number in perspective, $180 billion is roughly the GDP of Hungary. Google’s parent company is prepared to spend an entire mid-sized European economy’s worth of output on servers and buildings to house them.
The AI arms race has a price tag
Alphabet isn’t alone in this spending spree. The total projected AI-related capital expenditures across major tech giants, including Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta, is expected to reach approximately $600 billion to $725 billion for 2026.
One specific project in Alphabet’s pipeline is a $1.5 billion data center expansion in Jackson County, Alabama, scheduled for completion between 2026 and 2027.
