Big Tech’s A.I. Spending Keeps Rising. So Do the Jitters.

Amazon reported capital expenditures of $53 billion in the second quarter, up 69 percent from a year earlier, as it builds AI data centers and infrastructure. The company joined Meta, Microsoft, and Google in ramping up AI spending, with combined expected spending of $1.5 trillion this year and next, according to FactSet. Concerns are mounting as Meta's stock fell over 7 percent and Google reported negative free cash flow for the first time since 2004.

Supported by SKIP ADVERTISEMENT after-sponsor Big Tech’s A.I. Spending Keeps Rising. So Do the Jitters. Amazon joined a procession of tech giants that ramped up their spending on artificial intelligence, as its capital expenditures soared 69 percent. Concerns over the industry’s spending are mounting. Tech giants are setting records every few months for how much they are spending on artificial intelligence — but this time, some jitters are also growing. On Thursday, Amazon said https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260729379483/en/Amazon.com-Announces-Second-Quarter-Results its capital expenditures totaled $53 billion in the second quarter, up 69 percent from a year earlier, as it built A.I. data centers and other infrastructure. It joined a parade of other big tech companies, with Meta https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/29/technology/meta-profit-ai.html on Wednesday reporting that its costs had risen 55 percent from last year, while Microsoft said https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/29/technology/microsoft-quarterly-earnings-report.html its capital expenditures had soared 69 percent. Last week, Google also disclosed https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/technology/alphabet-google-earnings-profit.html that its costs had jumped and said it would boost its spending further. These numbers are only set to skyrocket. Across this year and next, Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft are expected to spend a staggering $1.5 trillion building data centers and stuffing them with advanced chips, according to Wall Street estimates compiled by FactSet. “The scale of it is nuts,” said Melissa Otto, who leads research at S&P Global’s Visible Alpha division. Alarms are rising as Wall Street and others question when this spending can be justified. On Thursday, Amazon’s share price rose almost 10 percent in after-hours trading after its cloud computing division experienced its fastest growth since early 2022, and shares of Microsoft, which did not change its spending forecast, jumped more than 15 percent. But Meta’s stock sank more than 7 percent on Thursday after it revealed its A.I. outlays and that costs were growing faster than its revenue. And last week, for the first time since going public in 2004, Google said it had “negative free cash flow,” which meant it was spending more on day-to-day operations and building new infrastructure than it was taking in from its businesses. Google’s stock fell more than 6 percent the next day. Related Content Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT after-bottom