{"slug": "big-tech-share-buybacks-decline-as-ai-race-escalates-costs", "title": "Big Tech share buybacks decline as AI race escalates costs", "summary": "Big Tech companies including Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon have sharply reduced share buybacks as they redirect cash toward AI infrastructure spending, projected to reach $755 billion in 2026, an 83% increase from the prior year. Goldman Sachs reports that buyback and dividend allocations have fallen to 20% of capital, down from a historical 34%, with Alphabet and Meta posting zero buybacks in recent quarters.", "body_md": "# Big Tech share buybacks decline as AI race escalates costs\n\nHyperscalers are projected to spend $755 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026, squeezing the cash that once flowed to shareholders\n\nAccording to a Goldman Sachs report dated May 10, 2026, the major hyperscalers, including Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle, are projected to spend $755 billion on AI infrastructure this year. That represents an 83% increase from the prior year.\n\n## The numbers tell the story\n\nThe proportion of capital these companies direct toward buybacks and dividends has fallen to roughly 20%, down from a historical average of 34% between 2017 and 2022.\n\nAlphabet reported zero buybacks in its most recent quarter. A year earlier, it had repurchased $15.1 billion worth of its own stock. Meta has posted zero share repurchases for the last two quarters. Amazon hasn’t bought back shares in nearly four years. Microsoft’s buyback activity, by contrast, has remained relatively stable, making it the exception rather than the rule among its peers.\n\nTaken together, the group has cut buybacks by nearly two-thirds.\n\n## Why AI is eating the buyback budget\n\nGoldman Sachs projects that spending growth among these hyperscalers is on pace to reach 100% of operating cash flows. The bank estimates these firms could need an additional $400 billion in net debt to fund the gap.\n\n## What this means for investors\n\nGoldman Sachs projects overall S&P 500 buyback growth of just 3% in 2026.\n\n**Disclosure:** This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our\n\n[Editorial Policy](https://cryptobriefing.com/editorial-policy/).", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/big-tech-share-buybacks-decline-as-ai-race-escalates-costs", "canonical_source": "https://cryptobriefing.com/big-tech-buybacks-decline-ai-costs/", "published_at": "2026-06-18 11:24:45+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-18 11:54:07.664712+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-infrastructure", "ai-policy", "ai-research"], "entities": ["Alphabet", "Meta", "Amazon", "Microsoft", "Oracle", "Goldman Sachs"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/big-tech-share-buybacks-decline-as-ai-race-escalates-costs", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/big-tech-share-buybacks-decline-as-ai-race-escalates-costs.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/big-tech-share-buybacks-decline-as-ai-race-escalates-costs.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/big-tech-share-buybacks-decline-as-ai-race-escalates-costs.jsonld"}}