Top 7 AI Infrastructure Giants Project $863B Capex for 2026
Exponential View (Azeem Azhar) · rss · 2026-08-11
Exponential View's 2026 State of the AI Economy Report estimates that the seven largest AI infrastructure builders will hit $863 billion in capital expenditure, an 88% year-over-year increase. Roughly two-thirds of this ($550 billion) is directly AI-related.
The analysis highlights the lagged financial impact of this massive spending. Across four major hyperscalers, assets not yet in service have ballooned to $315 billion, up from $281 billion in the previous quarter. This represents a massive reservoir of future depreciation that has yet to hit earnings.
Meta exemplifies this trend: a dollar spent today waits roughly 1.7 years before going live, a full year longer than in FY2024. Only about a third of its current capex will reach service within the year.
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