Tech companies have already spent around $1 trillion on AI infrastructure, with spending set to grow by 34.7 percent in 2026, according to Gartner. The analyst firm has raised its 2026 global IT spending forecast to $6.37 trillion, a surge of 14.2 percent year-on-year, up from April's $6.31 trillion and February's $6.15 trillion.
John-David Lovelock, a distinguished VP analyst at Gartner, told The Register: “The AI infrastructure build-out is the largest infrastructure project humanity has ever undertaken. Bigger than the US highways, bigger than European rail, bigger than the Great Wall of China, and the International Space Station combined. That's how big this sucker is. It is transformational in that sense. We are shifting from a world where we spend on information technology to a world where we're going to spend on intelligence technology.”
“Tech companies spent $1tn on AI infrastructure, driving record IT spending and price increases, Gartner warns.”
The spending is pushing up hardware and software prices, with enterprises already footing the bill. Devices, including consumer purchases and business laptops, are set to grow by 9.8 percent, partly due to higher memory and chip prices. Infrastructure as a service – a segment of cloud computing – is on pace to grow by 29.3 percent to $287 billion, accelerating from 25.3 percent growth in 2025.
Lovelock said chief information officers are “extremely concerned about price increases coming at them from all of their vendors” and are pushing back hard, but have only been successful in IT services, where adding AI to a product leads to a lower price point. Unanswered questions remain about whether the market can sustain the increases or if higher prices are a defensive move by vendors protecting market share.
The BBC’s Tech Now programme this week covered related developments: Andrew Rogers reported highlights from the Esports World Cup in Paris, Laura Cress demonstrated how to build a gaming PC, and Shiona McCallum explored how AI is reshaping job recruitment.