CSP Spending Surge to Lift 2026 AI Server Shipments 31%

Cloud service providers (CSPs) are expanding data centers to support demand for generative AI and cloud computing. TrendForce said providers are purchasing GPUs from NVIDIA and AMD while accelerating adoption of custom ASICs such as Google’s TPUs to reduce computing costs and energy consumption. Capital spending has therefore become a key gauge of the AI infrastructure cycle.

TrendForce had initially forecast that combined capital spending by the world’s eight largest CSPs would exceed $710 billion in 2026, with Google’s TPUs leading the ASIC expansion. After adding more North American providers to its latest survey, it raised its 2026 capital-spending forecast for the world’s nine largest CSPs to $830 billion, more than $120 billion above its previous estimate, reflecting continued growth in AI data center investment.

Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft are racing to expand their “AI factories,” pouring money into data centers, servers, computing chips and power infrastructure. The four major U.S. cloud service providers are seeking to secure computing capacity for generative AI, reshaping competition across the global semiconductor, energy and cloud markets.

Amazon expects capital spending to rise to $200 billion in 2026, with the funds focused on AI data centers and infrastructure. Its AI business already generates more than $15 billion in annualized revenue, and the company is considering selling its in-house chips to outside customers. Amazon also expects AI to boost AWS sales, which it forecasts will double to $600 billion by 2036.