Dive Brief:
- Global IT spending will rise to $6.31 trillion in 2026, up 13.5% from last year, according to Gartner projections published Wednesday. The spending growth is stronger than anticipated compared to the previous quarterly forecast, the analyst firm said, as sustained momentum in AI infrastructure investments boosted data center spending.
- Spending on data centers will grow 55.8% in 2026 and is expected to surpass $788 billion, according to Gartner. IT services, infrastructure implementation, managed services and IaaS spending will exceed $1.87 billion.
- “This latest forecast underscores the accelerating momentum in AI infrastructure and advanced memory,” John-David Lovelock, distinguished VP analyst at Gartner, said in the press release. “As AI workloads scale, data center investment is ramping rapidly, which in turn is driving increased demand for high-performance compute.”
Dive Insight:
The increase in global IT spend shows hyperscalers are forging ahead with their efforts to build out infrastructure as demand for AI-ready compute accelerates.
By 2031, hyperscalers including Google, Microsoft and AWS will account for 67% of data center capacity, driven by hefty AI infrastructure investments. The three tech giants alone plan to invest more than $500 billion in capital expenditures for AI infrastructure this year.
Companies are undertaking infrastructure projects both at home and abroad. Microsoft on Thursday announced a $25 billion investment to expand computing and AI capacity in Australia. Earlier this week, Meta said the company is breaking ground on an AI-optimized data center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, its 28th data center in the U.S. and 32nd data center globally.
As hyperscalers funnel cash into building out AI infrastructure globally, they’re also engaging in a flurry of deals in support of compute capacity.
Large language model provider Anthropic signed new agreements with Google and Broadcom earlier this month to add multiple gigawatts of TPU capacity starting in 2027. Meanwhile, Meta and CoreWeave expanded their existing relationship in a $21 billion deal that equipped the social media giant with greater compute capacity.
“This dynamic is creating meaningful growth opportunities for companies delivering AI-optimized processors, accelerators and enabling technologies,” Lovelock said.
