AI data centers and capex
Q2 2026 capex was $44.9B (+100% YoY). Full-year 2026 guidance raised to $195–205B.
The numbers
What it is
Spending on data centers, servers and networking for Search, YouTube, Cloud and Gemini. Covers both Google's own TPU chips and servers bought from others.
Why it matters to the stock. Capex is the largest cash cost. Traders watch it against Cloud growth and free cash flow, which turned negative in Q2 2026 on the reported figures.
News
Google signs 3,590 MW power deal with Constellation, including 890 MW of nuclear upgrades
Google agreed to buy 3,590 megawatts of power from Constellation Energy across Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Alphabet prices $25B of US dollar bonds across ten tranches
Alphabet sold $25 billion of US dollar senior notes in ten tranches, with maturities from 2028 to 2066, as capital spending keeps climbing.
Alphabet raises 2026 capex forecast to $195B-$205B
Alphabet lifted its full-year 2026 capital spending forecast to $195 billion to $205 billion, up from $180 billion to $190 billion, and said spending would rise significantly again in 2027.
Alphabet declares $0.22 dividend and buys back no stock in Q2
In its Q2 release Alphabet declared a $0.22 quarterly dividend per common share, payable September 14, 2026 to holders of record on September 7.
Google agrees to pay SpaceX about $920 million a month for 110,000 Nvidia GPUs through mid-2029
A filing by SpaceX described a deal in which Google pays about $920 million a month for compute, including roughly 110,000 Nvidia GPUs in SpaceX data centers.
Alphabet announces $80 billion equity raise to fund AI infrastructure, including $10 billion from Berkshire Hathaway
Alphabet announced plans to raise about $80 billion of equity to fund AI infrastructure and compute capacity.
Google agrees to invest up to $40 billion in Anthropic, $30 billion of it tied to milestones
Alphabet agreed to invest up to $40 billion in Anthropic.
Alphabet made no share buybacks in Q1 2026, down from $15.1B a year earlier
Alphabet's Q1 2026 cash flow statement shows zero spending on repurchases, against $15.1 billion in Q1 2025.
Alphabet Q4 2025: revenue $113.8B up 18%, 2026 capex guided to $175B-$185B
Alphabet reported fourth-quarter 2025 revenue of $113.8 billion, up 18%, with diluted EPS of $2.82 and Google Cloud revenue up 48% to $17.7 billion.
Alphabet raises $20B in dollar bonds plus sterling and Swiss franc notes in Q1
Alphabet's Q1 2026 filing shows about $31.4 billion of net debt proceeds from new notes: $20.0 billion of US dollar notes, GBP 5.5 billion of sterling notes including a 31-year tranche, and CHF 3.1 billion of Swiss franc notes.