Mostly signed-but-not-yet-active data-center and chip contracts, the commitments are legal under US accounting rules — but they leave the debt investors actually see understating the real scale of AI spending.
An investigation by Nikkei Asia found that Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Oracle are carrying roughly $1.65 trillion in debt that sits off their balance sheets — more than the $1.35 trillion the five disclosed for the most recent quarter.
That off-books total has grown about eightfold over roughly four years, swelling as the companies poured money into artificial intelligence. Meta is the sharpest case. It alone has built up around $420 billion in off-balance-sheet debt tied to AI infrastructure, nearly triple the roughly $140 billion of debt it records on its books. Oracle's off-balance-sheet commitments have expanded about 30-fold since 2022 to reach some $273.3 billion.
Much of that debt comes from multi-year agreements already signed but not yet in force — chiefly billions of dollars pledged to data-center operators and orders for GPUs and servers not yet delivered. Under current US accounting rules, gear committed under long-term contracts but undelivered, along with data centers financed through project arrangements or extended leases, counts as off-balance-sheet, so none of it breaks the standards.
The worry is framed as one of disclosure rather than solvency. The five are flush with cash — Microsoft alone took in close to $100 billion from operations over the past twelve months, with Alphabet, Meta and Amazon each pulling in tens of billions — yet anyone reading only the top-line debt figures misses much of what is happening with AI spending.
Technical accounting consultant Tom Selling warned that this treatment is currently in fashion and could be propping up a company that turns out to be a house of cards, calling that the real risk. Amazon Web Services chief Matt Garman has countered that Amazon's investments are not made on speculation.
Investors will get a fresh look soon: Meta is set to release its second-quarter results after the market closes on July 29, with Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon due to report within days.