AI Spending Forecast to Hit $2.59 Trillion in 2026, Gartner Says

Infrastructure takes the biggest share

According to Gartner, AI infrastructure is the largest piece of the 2026 total at $1.43 trillion, which is more than 45% of all AI spending. "2026 will be the inflection year," said John-David Lovelock, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner.

A market commentary from Wall Street Investor, which circulated the figures, says the spending comes from two groups at once. The first is the large cloud and internet platforms building data centers to train and run AI models. The second is the chip companies supplying the processors, custom accelerators and networking those data centers depend on.

The commentary adds that the biggest platforms are now committing more than $100 billion a year each to capital expenditures, while their suppliers report growth rates more often associated with early-stage companies. It also notes that the Nasdaq Composite is up roughly 17% so far in 2026, as investors keep rewarding companies that sell and buy AI hardware.

What the companies are reporting

The commentary points to recent results from four listed companies, citing each firm's own releases.

• Microsoft: fiscal 2026 fourth quarter revenue of $90.0 billion, up 18%, with Microsoft Cloud revenue of $59.3 billion, up 27%. Azure and other cloud services revenue rose 43%. CEO Satya Nadella said Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for the first time this year and that Microsoft 365 Copilot reached over 30 million paid seats.
• Meta Platforms: second quarter 2026 revenue of $60.80 billion, up 28% year over year, with capital expenditures of $31.08 billion in the quarter. The company expects full-year 2026 capital expenditures of $130 billion to $145 billion.
• Broadcom: third quarter fiscal 2026 revenue of $29.6 billion, up 86% year over year, including AI semiconductor revenue of $16.7 billion, up 221%. It guided fourth quarter revenue to approximately $34.8 billion, with AI semiconductor revenue expected to reach $21.7 billion.
• AMD: second quarter 2026 revenue of $11.5 billion, up 50% year over year, with Data Center segment revenue of $6.7 billion, up 107%. It guided third quarter revenue to approximately $13 billion, plus or minus $300 million.

Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said, "Demand for our custom AI accelerators and networking continues to be very strong." AMD CEO Lisa Su said Data Center revenue more than doubled in what she called an excellent quarter with record revenue and profitability.

What it means for the market

The commentary frames the central question for investors as no longer whether AI spending is real, but how long the current pace can last and which parts of the supply chain capture the most of it. Meta's Mark Zuckerberg said of his company's results, "The results are already showing, and I'm optimistic about the potential ahead."

The publisher cautions that the AI spending figures are third-party forecasts for the market as a whole and do not represent revenue attributable to any company named. The piece is market commentary, not investment advice, and the publisher discloses that it also promotes an affiliated AI research tool, Luxor IQ by Quote Daddy.