Moody's Ratings released a report this week saying that the five US tech giants collectively have $2.8 trillion in off-balance sheet debt related to artificial intelligence investments. The rapid rise in this number highlights that they are investing heavily in AI infrastructure. Moody's said that Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta Platform and Oracle have signed a total of nearly $3 trillion in leasing, procurement commitments and guarantee agreements, and these payments are not reflected in the company's balance sheet. In 2023, that figure was just $350 billion. According to US accounting standards, these are not current liabilities, so companies can report them as such. At the same time, not all promises mean that businesses will have to pay cash in the future. Despite this, the increase in the size of this type of debt shows that under the AI boom, various companies are borrowing heavily and stepping up the construction of AI infrastructure such as data centers.

Moody's Ratings released a report this week saying that the five US tech giants collectively have $2.8 trillion in off-balance sheet debt related to artificial intelligence investments. The rapid rise in this number highlights that they are investing heavily in AI infrastructure. Moody's said that Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta Platform and Oracle have signed a total of nearly $3 trillion in leasing, procurement commitments and guarantee agreements, and these payments are not reflected in the company's balance sheet. In 2023, that figure was just $350 billion. According to US accounting standards, these are not current liabilities, so companies can report them as such. At the same time, not all promises mean that businesses will have to pay cash in the future. Despite this, the increase in the size of this type of debt shows that under the AI boom, various companies are borrowing heavily and stepping up the construction of AI infrastructure such as data centers.