Alphabet and Meta’s 2026 investment budgets reach as high as $350 billion combined, as Paul Kedrosky’s commentary connects U.S. data-center opposition with concerns about household costs and artificial intelligence.
Alphabet kept its 2026 capital-expenditure forecast at $195 billion to $205 billion and said spending would rise significantly in 2027. The company has said demand for AI infrastructure and solutions is driving investment, which it expects to pressure free cash flow. Alphabet plans to give more detail about its 2027 outlook during its fourth-quarter call. EconoTimes previously covered the companies’ capital-spending outlooks.
Meta forecast 2026 capital expenditures of $135 billion to $145 billion, including principal payments on finance leases. The company has said its AI investments are contributing to advertising revenue. The upper ends of Alphabet’s and Meta’s forecasts total $350 billion; the ranges are plans, not final spending figures.
In a Nov. 4 post, Kedrosky argued that resistance to local data centers was shared across party lines in the United States. He connected some of that opposition to household costs and argued that data-center power demand can affect utility prices. That link between data centers and electricity costs was Kedrosky’s analysis.
Kedrosky also described economic pessimism and skepticism about AI as concerns appearing together. He said a majority expected children to have worse prospects than their parents and believed AI would play a role. He also characterized public opinion as leaning toward AI doing more harm than good.
Alphabet plans to discuss its 2027 capital-spending outlook in more detail on its fourth-quarter call.
