The artificial intelligence arms race is reaching a scale that makes the late-1990s telecom boom look surprisingly small.
US hyperscalers could spend about $916 billion on capital expenditures over the next 12 months, according to current consensus estimates. That figure is expected to climb to nearly $1.2 trillion the following year.
The comparison with previous investment booms is even more striking.
Hyperscaler capex is expected to reach roughly 3.1% of US GDP in 2027, according to data compiled by Apollo Global Management Chief Economist Torsten Slok.
Telecom investment peaked at just 1.2% during the dot-com infrastructure boom.
