Five of the world's largest technology companies had about $3.2 trillion in AI-related commitments that do not appear on their balance sheets at the end of September, according to an analysis reported by Nikkei.
The figures
- The companies covered are Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Oracle.
- The total rose about 90% in six months.
- Long-term purchase agreements made up about 60% of the total, and leases that haven't started yet about 40%.
- Alphabet accounted for about $1.05 trillion, and Meta about $810 billion.
- Goldman Sachs separately produced a similar estimate of about $3.2 trillion.
What "off-balance-sheet" means here
These are mostly promises to pay in the future — for example, agreements to buy computing capacity or to lease data centers that are still being built. Under accounting rules, many of them are disclosed in notes to the financial statements rather than recorded as debts on the balance sheet until they start.
Why it matters
The numbers show the scale of the AI infrastructure build-out: companies have committed to spending far more than what appears in their headline debt figures. Supporters say these commitments are needed to meet demand for AI services. Skeptics ask what happens if demand grows more slowly than expected, since many of the obligations are long-term.
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