Dive Brief:
- Global information technology spending will reach $6.37 trillion in 2026, Gartner said Monday, raising its forecast as organizations ramp up their artificial intelligence investments.
- The latest projection represents a 14.2% increase from 2025 and an upward revision from Gartner’s previous forecast of $6.31 trillion in April.
- “AI infrastructure growth remains rapid despite concerns about an AI bubble, with spending rising across AI-related hardware and software,” John-David Lovelock, distinguished VP analyst at Gartner, said in a press release. “Demand from hyperscale cloud providers continues to drive investment in servers optimized for AI workloads.”
Dive Insight:
AI spending is rising even as corporate investments in the technology come under growing scrutiny from investors and boards.
Nearly 90% of finance leaders feel pressured to tie AI spending to business outcomes within the next year, but only 22% have already achieved that goal, according to a study released last month by Cloudzero, which describes itself as an AI ROI company. Cloudzero’s survey also found that 66% of boards are conditioning additional AI funding on proof of return.
Meanwhile, Janus Henderson Investors found in a study released in May that nine out of 10 investors have at least some concerns about AI, with 28% citing fears that it may not live up to expectations. Two-thirds of investors said they were worried about a potential AI bubble or market correction in the near term.
Investor uncertainty about the future of AI is at times rattling the stock market.
Alphabet’s shares fell about 7% on Thursday after the Google parent raised its 2026 capital expenditure outlook to a range of $195 billion to $205 billion, up from its previous forecast of $180 billion to $190 billion, as it accelerates investment in AI infrastructure. The sell-off came despite strong AI-related demand, with Google Cloud revenue rising 82% year over year to $24.8 billion.
“While we have increased our capacity quite significantly over the past three years, the demand still outpaces that investment,” Alphabet CFO Anat Ashkenazi said during a Thursday earnings call. “We are, just like the rest of the industry, working in a supply-constrained environment.”
Gartner said its latest IT spending forecast places greater emphasis on AI. The research firm expects data center systems in particular to be the fastest-growing technology segment this year.
“Driven by the expansion of AI workloads and demand for high-performance computing, hyperscalers and enterprises are rapidly scaling next-generation data center capacity,” Lovelock said in the Monday release.
