AI data-centre race builds $1 trillion lease burden for Big Tech

Aug 4 : Microsoft Corp, Meta Platforms Inc, Oracle Corp, Amazon and Alphabet have committed about $1.09 trillion in future payments under leases that have not yet begun, mostly for data centres needed to power the artificial intelligence boom.The commitments show that a substantial part of Big Tech's AI spending spree has already been locked in, without yet appearing as debt-like lease liabilities on company balance sheets.If demand for AI computing continues to surge, the facilities will underpin the next phase of cloud growth. If it does not, the companies could be left paying for vast amounts of costly, long-lived capacity that is difficult to shed.The total is nearly four times the roughly $285 billion of lease liabilities already recognised on the companies' balance sheets, according