The largest United States cloud and AI infrastructure providers have committed to spending between $660 billion and $690 billion on capital expenditure in 2026, nearly doubling 2025 levels, according to market analysis. Estimates for the four biggest hyperscalers alone reach up to $630 billion, roughly 62 percent above the record $388 billion spent in 2025, with the bulk of that investment flowing into data center construction and AI hardware.

Individual company plans illustrate the scale. Amazon plans about $200 billion in capital spending for 2026, Google $175 to $185 billion, Microsoft $110 to $120 billion, and Meta between $115 and $135 billion. Analysts estimate roughly 75 percent of the combined spending, around $450 billion, is targeted directly at AI infrastructure, underscoring how data centers have become the primary destination for this capital.

Supply constraints accompany the spending surge. One forecast projects global data center capital expenditure will surpass $1 trillion for the first time in 2026. Even so, analysts document a United States data center capacity shortfall exceeding 11 gigawatts that could widen to 45 gigawatts by 2028, and one major provider has disclosed an $80 billion backlog of cloud orders it cannot fulfill because of power constraints. The data shows record investment running ahead of available power and capacity.

Source: Futurum Group -- https://futurumgroup.com/insights/ai-capex-2026-the-690b-infrastructure-sprint/