Big Tech Doubles Debt Load to $350 Billion in AI Spending Spree

What happened

Bloomberg reported on July 10, 2026 that the five largest US data center builders — Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle — collectively added roughly $350 billion to their debt obligations over the past five years to finance AI infrastructure build-out.

Context and impact

The software industry has traditionally earned high margins without heavy capital expenditure, but the shift to cloud and AI data centers has transformed the sector's economics to resemble capital-intensive manufacturing. Debt loads of this magnitude are historically unprecedented for software companies — if AI investment returns disappoint, the financial risk is systemic.

Details

• Companies: Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle
• Total new debt over 5 years: ~$350 billion
• Sector transforming from high-margin software to capital-intensive infrastructure
• Connected to record CapEx plans for 2025–2027