STORY: :: Google
Alphabet said Wednesday that capital expenditure could double this year.
Google's parent company plans to spend up to $185 billion in 2026 in an effort to push ahead of the AI race.
That would be around twice last year's figure, and far above analyst expectations.
Executives said investments in AI computing capacity, including servers, data centers and networking equipment, are central to the company's strategy.
Alphabet shares saw big swings in after-hours trade as investors balanced the big spending plans against revenue that also soared.
The stock dropped 6% before recovering to end the day flat.
Big Tech companies are expected to collectively shell out more than $500 billion on AI this year.
Facebook parent company Meta last week hiked investment in AI development by 73%, while Microsoft has also reported record quarterly capital expenditure.
:: Microsoft
:: Meta Platforms
It all comes at a time when investors have increasingly grown concerned about payoffs from AI investments.
Google, however, has been able to show strong progress in its AI efforts, helping its stock surge 76% since the beginning of last year.
The company's cloud business reported stellar growth in the fourth quarter, with revenue surging by almost a half to $17.7 billion.
Google says its enterprise-grade Gemini model has also sold 8 million paying seats.
Last month, it secured a partnership with Apple to power the iPhone maker's AI offerings with Gemini.
