Alphabet, owner of Google, raised its 2026 capital spending guidance from $180 billion-$190 billion to $195 billion-$205 billion, with most of the additional investment going toward AI infrastructure and data center buildout.
The tech giant emphasized its AI infrastructure buildout is accelerating and said about 60% of second-quarter infrastructure spending went toward servers, with the remaining 40% allocated to data centers and networking equipment.
During the July 22 earnings call, CFO Anat Ashkenazi said the higher level of investment in technical infrastructure will lead to higher data center operating costs, including "energy." Management also said it expects capital spending to increase again in 2027 as it continues expanding AI capacity.
At RBN, we spend a lot of time digging into data centers, especially how these power-hungry facilities will source electricity and what that means for natural gas, power markets, and energy infrastructure. One of the biggest questions is how much electricity they'll need and what it will cost. Check out our Drill Down Report: Go Speed Racer Go on the data center build‑out.
