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Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta Ramp Up AI Capex 5–8x Since 2023 While Apple Cuts Spending, a16z Says

November 7, 2026 at 21:01 EST

Infra & Chips

Four of the largest U.S. technology companies have increased capital spending five to eight times since the first quarter of 2023, while Apple has reduced its spending by 20%, according to figures reported from venture firm a16z.

Q1 2023 to latest · Capital expenditure

Four Big Tech giants scale AI spending 5–8×, while Apple cuts 20%

Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta have sharply expanded data center, server and infrastructure spending to train and run AI models. Apple has moved in the opposite direction over the same period.

5–8×

Capex increase since Q1 2023 for Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta

−20%

Change in Apple's capex over the same period

Capex relative to Q1 2023 (1 block = 1× baseline)

Each block is one multiple of the Q1 2023 level. Apple's 0.8 reflects a 20% reduction.

1×

Q1 2023 baseline

5×

Big Four (low end)

8×

Big Four (high end)

0.8×

Apple (−20%)

What the figures show

The race to secure compute capacity has intensified since early 2023.
Capex has become one of the largest line items for hyperscale cloud providers.
Spending pace is read by investors as a gauge of conviction in AI demand.

Limits of the comparison

Time periods and exact baselines are not fully broken down.
Capex definitions may differ across companies.
Higher spending does not automatically produce higher returns.

The key question

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