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Alphabet Raises 2026 AI CapEx to $195–$205 Billion as Cloud Revenue Soars

The company is trading short‑term cash flow for large compute capacity to convert a roughly $514 billion cloud backlog into future revenue.

Overview

  • Alphabet reported strong Q2 results with revenue of $119.8 billion and Google Cloud revenue up 82% to $24.8 billion, supported by a cloud backlog near $514 billion.
  • The company raised full‑year capital spending guidance to $195–$205 billion to build servers, data centers, and networking needed for AI products and enterprise demand.
  • Heavy spending produced Alphabet’s first quarterly negative free cash flow of about $5.855 billion as capital expenditures of roughly $44.9 billion outpaced operating cash flow.
  • Alphabet said it sold equity to fund the push, disclosing $49.6 billion raised in the quarter while one report cited an $84.75 billion June equity raise that the company has not confirmed.
  • Analysts warn the buildout will strain chip and power supply chains and create roughly $250 billion in off‑balance commitments for hyperscalers that turn near‑term costs into multi‑year returns.