In one sense, capital investment in data centers and artificial intelligence by Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft represents only about 3.5 percent of total global capex in any given year. On the other hand, that level of investment is quite high, compared even to traditionally capital-intensive industries including electrical utilities, communication service providers and energy.
But what might be notable is that the 3.5 percent global share of capex is generated by just four firms.
Company/Industry | 2025 Capex (USD) | Main Investment Focus | Notes |
Amazon | $100 billion | AI, data centers, cloud infrastructure | Driven by generative AI and AWS expansion1. |
Microsoft | $80 billion | AI, data centers, cloud infrastructure | Major push for AI-enabled data centers and U.S. infrastructure4. |
Alphabet (Google) | $75 billion | AI, servers, data centers, networking | Focus on technical infrastructure for AI2. |
Meta (Facebook) | $65 billion | AI, data centers, computing infrastructure | Largest capex ever for Meta, focused on AI3. |
All Global Industries | $9 trillion | Infrastructure, manufacturing, utilities, transport, etc. | Includes capital projects across 49 largest economies5. |
Of course, it matters what products, in what industries, are used for the comparison. “Energy” might be as “low” as $115 billion by some estimates, while other analyses encompassing all parts of the energy value chain might conclude that the industry spends as much as $500 billion to $600 billion annually.
source: Refinitive, Seeking Alpha
Sector/Company | 2025 Capex (USD) | Notes |
Amazon | $100 billion | AI, cloud, logistics, data centers |
Microsoft | $80 billion | AI, cloud, U.S. infrastructure |
Alphabet (Google) | $75 billion | AI, data centers, technical infrastructure |
Meta | $65 billion | AI, data centers, computing infrastructure |
Combined Big Tech | $320 billion |
|
Oil & Gas (Global) | $500–600 billion | Exploration, production, refining |
Automotive (Global) | $150–200 billion | Manufacturing, R&D, EV transition |
Telecom (Global) | $300–350 billion | Networks, 5G, fiber |
Utilities (Global) | $700–800 billion | Power generation, grid, renewables |
Semiconductors (Global) | $200 billion | Fabs, equipment, R&D |
All Industries | $9 trillion | Infrastructure, manufacturing |
The point might be that digital infrastructure capex now rivals that of other forms of infrastructure.
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