2026 AI capex dataset: guidance and reported spend by company
Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta 2026 capital-expenditure guidance ($720B–$740B combined, latest as of Oct 29, 2026), reported calendar-quarter 2026 spend on each company's own measure, accounting scope, limitations and a primary source for every figure. Free CSV and JSON; reviewed Oct 30, 2026.
- 4
- MSFT · AMZN · GOOGL · META
- $720B–$740B
- USD, not all AI-specific
- Sep 30, 2026
- Calendar Q3 2026
- Oct 30, 2026
- Last data change
Download the dataset
CSV (one row per company) is ready for spreadsheets and models. JSON adds the guidance history, each reported quarter with its source, the field dictionary and caveats. Both are free.
What the total means
This is a capital-spending envelope, not an audited AI-only total. Amazon is companywide, Meta includes finance-lease principal, Microsoft uses calendar guidance across a June fiscal year, and none of the four isolates every AI dollar.
How to normalize the numbersHow much does each company plan to spend, and how much has it spent?
USD billions. Reported quarters are calendar quarters on each company's own measure; a dash means the figure is not recorded in this dataset.
| Company | 2026 guidance | Q1 2026 reported | Q2 2026 reported | Q3 2026 reported | Primary comparison limit | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 2026 capexMSFT stock | About $170B As of Oct 28, 2026 | $31.9B Capex including finance leases | $41B Capex including finance leases ($5.6B) | $45.2B Capex including finance leases ($7.4B) | The company does not disclose a standalone audited AI-capex figure. | |
| Amazon 2026 capexAMZN stock | About $220B As of Oct 29, 2026 | $44.2B Cash purchases of property and equipment | $54.2B Cash purchases of property and equipment | $77.3B Cash purchases of property and equipment | The $220 billion plan is companywide and cannot be treated as pure AI or AWS capex. | |
| Alphabet 2026 capexGOOGL stock | $195B to $205B As of Oct 28, 2026 | $35.7B Purchases of property and equipment | $44.9B Purchases of property and equipment | $51.4B Purchases of property and equipment | Alphabet does not publish a clean AI-only capital-expenditure measure. | |
| Meta 2026 capexMETA stock | $135B to $145B As of Oct 21, 2026 | $19.84B Capex including finance-lease principal | $31.08B Capex including finance-lease principal | $34.91B Capex including finance-lease principal | The capex outlook includes infrastructure used across Meta's core business and research, not only generative AI. |
Field dictionary
Columns in the CSV, in order. The JSON file contains the same fields plus nested guidance history and per-quarter sources.
| Field | Type | Unit | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| company | string | — | Company name. |
| ticker | string | — | Primary US listing ticker. |
| period | string | — | Period the guidance covers, e.g. Calendar 2026. |
| guidanceLowBillions | number | USD billions | Low end of the latest explicit full-year capex guidance. Equals the high end when the company gives a single figure. |
| guidanceHighBillions | number | USD billions | High end of the latest explicit full-year capex guidance. |
| guidanceMidpointBillions | number | USD billions | Arithmetic midpoint of the low and high guidance. |
| guidanceAsOf | date | — | Date the company issued the current guidance (ISO 8601). |
| q1_2026ReportedBillions | number | USD billions | Reported spend for January to March 2026 on the company's own measure. Blank if not recorded. |
| q2_2026ReportedBillions | number | USD billions | Reported spend for April to June 2026 on the company's own measure. Blank if not recorded. |
| q3_2026ReportedBillions | number | USD billions | Reported spend for July to September 2026 on the company's own measure. Blank if not recorded. |
| reportedSpendMeasures | list | — | Measure behind each reported quarter, e.g. capex including finance leases or cash purchases of property and equipment. Pipe-separated. |
| latestSignalLabel | string | — | Name of the most recent operating data point. |
| latestSignalValue | string | — | Value of that data point as disclosed, with its unit. |
| latestSignalNote | string | — | Context for the latest signal. |
| accountingScope | string | — | What the company's capex measure includes and excludes. |
| investorRead | string | — | Yield Theory's interpretation of the spending for investors. |
| watchItems | list | — | Metrics to monitor in future reports. Pipe-separated. |
| limitations | list | — | Reasons the figure is not directly comparable. Pipe-separated. |
| sourceUrls | list | — | Primary company source URLs for guidance. Pipe-separated. |
| updatedAt | date | — | Date Yield Theory last reviewed the row (ISO 8601). |
Provenance, coverage and updates
- Company earnings releases and calls, investor-relations pages and SEC Form 10-Q filings, linked per row
- Calendar 2026 guidance; reported spend through Sep 30, 2026
- After each company's quarterly results or a material guidance change; no daily estimates
- Oct 30, 2026
- CSV (text/csv), JSON (application/json)
- Yield Theory Research
What this dataset cannot tell you
- It does not isolate a comparable audited AI-only capex line.
- Reported quarters use different measures (capex including finance leases versus cash purchases of property), so rows are not strictly additive across companies.
- It does not predict a supplier's revenue from the spending total.
- It does not prove the new capacity will reach profitable utilization.
- Guidance is forward-looking and can change after the review date.
Usage terms and citation
Free to download and use for your own research and analysis under our terms of use, which do not permit resale or republishing the dataset as your own. When citing, link this page, state the review date and keep the row-level sources.
The dataset shows how much they are spending. The harder question is whether the returns justify it.
The AI capex ROI scorecard tests demand, utilization, margins and free cash flow against this spending. The 2026 hyperscaler capex tracker explains each company's number in context.
The capex number is the start of the thesis.
hyperscaler capex guidance stays in the issuer’s own definition. Members get the investment case: catalysts, risks, and the evidence that would change the view. $39/month or $249/year.
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