Goldman Sachs forecasts $1.2 trillion in Big Tech AI infrastructure spending in 2027, above Wall Street consensus

Goldman Sachs expects Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Oracle and Meta to spend a combined $1.2 trillion on AI infrastructure in 2027. Bloomberg reported the forecast, citing strategist Ryan Hammond. That would be more than 50 percent above the roughly $800 billion projected for this year and above Wall Street's consensus of $1.1 trillion. Relative to GDP, it would be the largest investment cycle since railroad construction in the 19th century. Goldman expects growth in spending to slow, from nearly 100 percent in 2026 to 54 percent in 2027 and 12 percent in 2028. To recover these outlays, the bank estimates the companies would need about $300 billion a year in AI revenue. Current earnings fall short of that. Cloud revenue growth, however, rose from 25 percent in 2024 to 48 percent in the second quarter of 2026. Goldman also says the spending now exceeds what the companies generate from ongoing operations, which means more debt financing. Shortages of power, labor and memory chips could slow the buildout further. It is still unclear whether revenue at AI labs such as OpenAI and Anthropic is growing fast enough to justify the investment. Both labs sit at the center of the expectations and financial instruments behind the buildout, so their growth matters to investors and lenders financing the data centers.