How much do the biggest AI spenders invest each quarter?

Which companies are spending the most, and is it rising?

Every company’s latest quarterly capex is higher than a year earlier

Q3 ’26: Microsoft $39.4 billion · Alphabet $51.4 billion · Amazon $77.3 billion · Meta $33.9 billion · Oracle $28.5 billion · CoreWeave not in range

Each line is one company’s quarterly total capex. Quarters are placed in the calendar quarter that holds most of the period: Oracle’s quarters end in Aug, Nov, Feb and May, so they sit in Q3, Q4, Q1 and Q2; Microsoft’s fiscal year starts in July. The table below lists the true period end for each company.

What did each company report in its latest quarter?

Amounts are as filed and are not like-for-like: each company defines its capex line differently (see the method below), and the lease figures use different definitions. The Census does not add them together.

How much did each company spend in each quarter?

What do the companies say they will spend in 2026?

• Microsoft: no full-year capex figure in its earnings release of Oct 28, 2026.
• Alphabet: no full-year capex figure in its earnings release of Oct 28, 2026.
• Amazon, Oct 29, 2026: Amazon says it continues to expect 2026 cash capital expenditures of approximately $220 billion. Amazon third-quarter 2026 earnings release (EX-99.1)
• Meta, Oct 21, 2026: Meta anticipates 2026 capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, of $135 billion to $145 billion. The release says this narrows its prior outlook of $130 billion to $145 billion. Meta third-quarter 2026 earnings release (EX-99.1)
• Oracle: no full-year capex figure in its earnings release of Sep 10, 2026.
• CoreWeave: no full-year capex figure in its earnings release of Aug 11, 2026.

Only figures printed in a company’s earnings release are shown, in the company’s wording. Executives often give a range on the earnings call; the Census does not use call remarks. The wording differs: Meta’s range includes principal payments on finance leases, and Amazon says “cash capital expenditures”.

How much is committed to leases that have not started?

Companies lease much of their data center space. A lease that has been signed but has not begun is not on the balance sheet, so it does not show up in capex. Each company discloses the amount in the notes to its quarterly report:

• Microsoft: $364.6 billion as of Sep 30, 2026. Leases, primarily for datacenters, that had not yet commenced; some arrangements depend on contractual conditions being met. Expected to commence between fiscal 2027 and fiscal 2034, with terms of 1 to 20 years. 10-Q filed Oct 28, 2026, Leases note
• Alphabet: $130.5 billion as of Sep 30, 2026. Future lease payments on leases, primarily for data centers and energy infrastructure, that had not yet commenced. Expected to commence between 2026 and 2031, with non-cancelable terms of 1 to 26 years. 10-Q filed Oct 29, 2026, Management’s discussion, liquidity and capital resources
• Amazon: $164.9 billion as of Sep 30, 2026. Total undiscounted payments on leases not yet commenced, as listed in the company’s table of commitments. 10-Q filed Oct 30, 2026, Commitments table
• Meta: $355.7 billion as of Sep 30, 2026. Operating and finance leases not yet commenced, for data centers, energy-related infrastructure, colocations and certain network infrastructure. Expected to commence from the rest of 2026 through 2036, with terms from more than 1 year to 30 years. 10-Q filed Oct 22, 2026, Note 10, Commitments and contingencies
• Oracle: $288.0 billion as of Aug 31, 2026. Additional lease commitments, substantially all for data centers, not yet on the balance sheet. Generally expected to commence between the second quarter of fiscal 2027 and fiscal 2029, with terms of 15 to 19 years. 10-Q filed Sep 11, 2026, Note 6, Leases and other commitments
• CoreWeave: $35.5 billion as of Jun 30, 2026. Estimated future undiscounted payments on executed leases, primarily for data centers, equipment and office buildings, that had not yet commenced. Expected to commence between 2026 and 2029, with estimated terms of 7 to 16 years. 10-Q filed Aug 12, 2026, Note 8, Leases

How are the numbers calculated?

Source

The SEC’s EDGAR XBRL data (company concept API) for each company’s 10-Q and 10-K filings. Nothing is estimated. The script that reads it refuses to write if a quarter is missing or a past quarter changes without an amended filing.

Quarterly values

Cash flow statements report year-to-date totals. A quarter is the difference between two consecutive totals in the same fiscal year, or the three-month figure where the filing gives one. Fourth quarters come from the 10-K minus the nine-month total.

Lines used

• Microsoft: “Additions to property and equipment”. Cash paid for property and equipment, from the investing section of the cash flow statement. Microsoft’s fiscal year ends June 30.
• Alphabet: “Purchases of property and equipment”. Cash paid for property and equipment, from the investing section of the cash flow statement.
• Amazon: “Purchases of property and equipment”. Cash paid for property and equipment, from the investing section of the cash flow statement. Amazon’s separate outlook uses the term “cash capital expenditures”, which this release does not define.
• Meta: “Purchases of property and equipment”. Cash paid for property and equipment, from the investing section of the cash flow statement. Meta’s own capital expenditures figure also includes principal payments on finance leases; the chart shows that sum as a second marker.
• Oracle: “Capital expenditures”. Cash paid for capital expenditures, from the investing section of the cash flow statement. Oracle’s fiscal year ends May 31, so its quarters end in Aug, Nov, Feb and May. Oracle also reports a separate “net cash outlay” measure that subtracts some financing; this page uses the cash flow line.
• CoreWeave: “Purchases of property and equipment and capitalized internal-use software”. Cash paid for property and equipment and capitalized internal-use software, from the investing section of the cash flow statement. CoreWeave’s third-quarter 2026 report was not filed when this page was last updated.

Total capex, not AI spending

These lines cover all property and equipment purchases. A company has to attribute spending to AI itself before the Census uses that label.

Checked

Oct 31, 2026. The daily run looks for new quarterly reports and earnings releases from these companies.

Download: quarterly capex (CSV) · quarterly capex, outlooks and leases (JSON). Free to reuse with attribution under CC BY 4.0.

Where can I see each company’s detail?

• Microsoft capex by quarter, outlook and leases · 7 tracked data centers
• Alphabet capex by quarter, outlook and leases · 14 tracked data centers
• Amazon capex by quarter, outlook and leases · 19 tracked data centers
• Meta capex by quarter, outlook and leases · 8 tracked data centers
• Oracle capex by quarter, outlook and leases · 5 tracked data centers
• CoreWeave capex by quarter, outlook and leases · 4 tracked data centers