Alphabet announced plans Monday to sell $80 billion worth of shares to accelerate its artificial intelligence (AI) expansion, as the Google parent races to build the infrastructure needed to meet surging global demand for AI services, according to Al Jazeera.
The US technology giant said the fundraising drive would support investments in AI systems, data centres and cloud infrastructure, including a $10 billion stock sale to Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate led by veteran investor Warren Buffett.
Alphabet said the remaining $70 billion would be raised through $30 billion in underwritten offerings and another $40 billion through staggered sales on the open market.
The company said demand for its AI products and services from businesses and consumers had exceeded its current supply capacity.
“The company is experiencing strong demand for its AI solutions and services from enterprises and consumers, at levels that are exceeding the company’s available supply,” Alphabet said in a statement.
“By scaling its investments, the company seeks to expand its foundational infrastructure to support the significant growth opportunity ahead,” it added.
Shares of Alphabet, which has a market capitalisation exceeding $4.5 trillion, fell about one per cent in after-hours trading following the announcement.
Alphabet has become one of the leading players in the global AI race through products and services including its Gemini family of AI assistants, cloud operations and large-scale data centres.
Like other Silicon Valley technology giants, the company has committed enormous sums toward AI-related infrastructure as competition intensifies across the sector.
During its latest earnings call, Alphabet said it expected capital expenditure to reach between $180 billion and $190 billion this year, before increasing “significantly” again in 2027.
According to an analysis by Goldman Sachs, major US technology companies including Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta are expected to spend around $800 billion on AI-related capital investments in 2026.
Analysts say the scale of spending reflects how major technology firms increasingly view AI infrastructure as essential to securing long-term dominance in the sector.
Troy Hooper, co-head of equity capital markets for the Americas at financial intelligence provider Mergermarket, said Alphabet’s move highlighted the growing intensity of the competition surrounding AI development.
“For hyperscalers, compute capacity is a direct driver of future revenue,” Hooper told Al Jazeera.
“By leaning into equity, Alphabet is bringing in permanent capital rather than burdening a balance sheet already absorbing record capex,” he said, using shorthand for capital expenditure.
Hooper said the industry’s biggest players now considered the risk of underinvesting in AI far greater than spending excessively.
“The logic is simple: under-investing is an existential risk; over-investing is merely expensive. Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta are following the same calculus,” he said.
He added that ownership of large-scale computing infrastructure would create significant advantages for companies able to train increasingly advanced AI models.
“Ownership at scale lowers the marginal cost of training advanced models, building a moat smaller competitors will struggle to match,” Hooper said.
“The message is clear: The winners of the AI era will be decided not just by algorithms, but by who owns the largest and most efficient compute platforms.”
