Big Tech has already dumped $155 billion in AI spending in 2025 — blowing past US government budgets for education and social services.
Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet just reported staggering capital expenditures (capex) for the first half of the year. Meta’s capex hit $30.7 billion, doubling last year’s $15.2 billion. Alphabet topped nearly $40 billion, Amazon at $55.7 billion. Microsoft warned it would spend over $30 billion this quarter alone, a 50% jump year-over-year.
Capex signals AI R&D because it covers massive investments in servers, data centers, chips, power, and water. Google made this clear in their earnings call, linking capex to AI infrastructure. 
The spending spree explodes next fiscal year, with Microsoft planning $100 billion, Meta $66-$72 billion, Alphabet $85 billion, and Amazon aiming for $100 billion-plus — totaling over $400 billion in AI investments.
Microsoft CFO Amy Hood said:
“We will continue to invest against the expansive opportunity ahead.”
Apple, lagging in AI, still plans to boost spending. Its Q2 capex rose to $3.46 billion from $2.15 billion last year. CEO Tim Cook said Apple is reallocating staff to AI and will embed it across devices, but didn’t share exact budget numbers.
Tim Cook stated:
“We are significantly growing our investment, I’m not putting specific numbers behind that.”
Startups want a piece of the pie too. OpenAI announced $8.3 billion raised so far in a $40 billion funding round, valuing the company at $300 billion.
Big tech’s AI arms race is only heating up. Investors love the spending. Microsoft’s market cap hit $4 trillion after earnings. More billions are coming.
