From Data Centers to AI, a Spending Surge at Big Tech Companies

Spending on data centers, the computers needed to run them and undersea internet cables were among the investments contributing to a dramatic surge in capital expenditures this year by some of the biggest technology companies.

Facebook and Alphabet, the parent company of Google, boosted their capital expenditures the most of any of their peers, more than doubling such investments during the first nine months of the year from the same period in 2017, according to an analysis by The Information. Microsoft and Intel also increased their spending significantly during the period. The growth is a sign that the biggest players in tech are sufficiently bullish on future growth opportunities that they are willing to plow cash from their booming businesses, along with savings from corporate tax cuts, into infrastructure.