Late January early febuary big tech disclosed their 2026 capital expenditure. Wall Street predicted a CapEx increase of 19% but everyone was shocked. the numbers given are franly astronomical.
| Company | 2026 CapEx ($B) |
|---|---|
| Oracle | ~50 |
| Meta | ~125 |
| Microsoft | ~130 |
| Alphabet | ~180 |
| Amazon | ~200 |
| Total | ~685 |
ok cool big number, but what does this mean in a historical context :
| Project / Entity | Total Cost (Adjusted) | Duration | Avg. Spend Per Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interstate Highway System | ~$550 Billion | 50 Years | ~$11 Billion |
| Apollo Moon Program | ~$320 Billion | 13 Years | ~$25 Billion |
| Manhattan Project | ~$35 Billion | 4 Years | ~$9 Billion |
| Transcontinental Railroad | ~$30 Billion | 6 Years | ~$5 Billion |
that puts it into perspective doesnt it? the even wilder thing is these historical projects were government backed, this AI spend is almost completely private industry. the US entire Defence budget is approximately 900B.
even more, Once you Build a Higway or Railroad you get to keep the infrastructure and just maintain it. in this AI arms race approximately 60% is going into depreciating GPUs.
lets compare the GDP of countries.
| Entity | GDP / CapEx ($B) |
|---|---|
| Switzerland | $1,000 |
| Belgium | $716.98 |
| Big Tech AI (2026 CapEx) | $685 |
| Sweden | $662.32 |
| Israel | $610.75 |
wlld isnt? to be witnessing the largest infrastructure buildout in history.