Tech's AI-Fueled Spending Surge

As the global AI boom continues, the world's largest tech companies have embarked on an unprecedented spending spree to stay ahead of the curve and build the infrastructure needed for the AI revolution. This year alone, Meta, Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft are expected to spend between $350 and $400 billion in capital expenditure, most of it dedicated to building AI datacenters that are the foundation of all AI applications. That's more than double the amount spent two years ago and there is no end in sight to what experts are calling the "AI arms race".

While cloud market leaders Amazon (AWS), Microsoft (Azure) and Alphabet (Google Cloud) are pouring billions into expanding the AI capabilities of their cloud infrastructure - which is a $400 billion market in itself - Meta is more product-focused, hoping that AI investments will improve its products, boost ad sales and eventually help them develop a "personal superintelligence", as CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently laid out.

With each announcement of another increase in capital expenditure, the pressure on competitors rises to do the same, creating a spending spiral as no one wants to risk falling behind in the race towards the AI-centric future. One company that appears to have fallen behind already is Apple. Not only has the iPhone maker known for its seamless integration of hardware and software failed to impress with the AI tools baked into its latest devices, but it's also falling behind its peers in terms of AI investments. In the fiscal year that just ended, Apple's capital expenditure amounted to $12.7 billion, which is a 33-percent increase from the year before but far from the spending levels seen from the aforementioned hyperscalers.