Hyperscaler Data Centers

Cloud, internet and AI platforms · Self-built campuses at gigawatt scale · Flagships: Fairwater, Rainier, Tembo

Hyperscalers own 48% of the world's data center capacity and are on track for two-thirds by 2031. Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and Oracle alone guide more than $800 billion of 2026 capital spending, most of it on AI campuses in the US.

2026 capital spending guidance in billions of dollars: Amazon about 220, Alphabet 195 to 205, Microsoft about 190 for calendar 2026, Meta 130 to 145, Oracle up to 95 for fiscal 2027, and China's four largest about 100 combined; and Synergy Research's share of global data center capacity, hyperscale rising from 48% to 67% by 2031 2026 CAPEX GUIDANCE, $B 0 50 100 150 200 AmazonCash capex ~220 Alphabet 195-205 MicrosoftCalendar 2026 ~190 MetaIncl. finance leases 130-145 OracleFiscal 2027 ~95 China's big fourByteDance and three more ~100 SHARE OF GLOBAL CAPACITY (SYNERGY) 2025 Hyperscale 48% Colo 20% On-prem 32% 2031 fcst Hyperscale 67% 14% 19%
Hyperscale share
48% → 67%
Amazon 2026
~$220B
Hyperscale sites
1,360
China big four
~$100B
Hub
Types

What it is

A Few Companies Own Half the World's Capacity

Hyperscalers are the cloud, internet and AI platforms that build their own campuses at hundreds of megawatts to gigawatts: Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Meta, Oracle and, in China, ByteDance, Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu.

  • Count: 1,360 hyperscale data centers worldwide at the end of 2025, with about 800 more in the pipeline (Synergy Research).
  • Share: 48% of global capacity in 2025, forecast to reach 67% by 2031 as on-premises capacity falls from 32% to 19%.
  • US lead: the US holds well over half of global capacity; SemiAnalysis counts 56 GW delivered in the US against more than 24 GW in China.

Spending

Hyperscalers Will Spend About $830 Billion in 2026

TrendForce puts the nine largest cloud providers' combined 2026 capital spending near $830 billion; Nvidia projects close to $1.3 trillion in 2027.

  • Amazon raised its guide to about $220 billion, citing memory prices; AWS has a $496 billion backlog.
  • Alphabet raised to $195-205 billion.
  • Microsoft guides about $175 billion for its fiscal year ending June 2027. Calendar 2026 spending is unchanged at about $190 billion. The lower figure reflects an accounting change that moves some data center leases out of capex. It added about 1 GW in one quarter.
  • Meta guides $130-145 billion; Oracle up to $95 billion, about a quarter of it repaid by customers.
  • China: ByteDance, Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu together are on track for about $100 billion in 2026, double 2025.

Own or lease

Self-Build, Lease or Joint Venture

  • Amazon and Google mostly build and own.
  • Microsoft mixes its own Fairwater sites with leases and contracts with neoclouds such as CoreWeave and Nebius.
  • Meta moved Hyperion into a joint venture 80% owned by Blue Owl and leases it back.
  • Oracle leases campuses built by Crusoe, Vantage, STACK and Related for OpenAI's Stargate.
  • ByteDance rents nearly all of its capacity in China from colocation operators.

See Deployment Models for how each arrangement works.

Operators

Hyperscalers and Their Flagship Campuses

Hyperscaler capital spending guidance and flagship campuses
Company2026 capex guidanceFlagship campusOwn or lease
Amazon~$220BProject Rainier, New Carlisle, INMostly self-build
Alphabet$195-205BProject TemboMostly self-build
Microsoft~$190B calendar 2026; ~$175B fiscal 2027Fairwater, Mount Pleasant, WI and AtlantaSelf-build, leases and neocloud contracts
Meta$130-145BHyperion, Richland Parish, LAJoint venture with Blue Owl, leased back
OracleUp to $95B fiscal 2027Stargate, Abilene, TXLeases from Crusoe, Vantage, STACK, Related
SpaceXSINot givenColossus, Memphis, TN and Southaven, MSSelf-build, behind the meter
ByteDanceMore than ¥200B (~$30B)ChinaLeases wholesale colo
Alibaba¥380B+ over three yearsChinaMixed

Record

Dataset Record

Dataset
Hyperscaler capital spending guidance, capacity share and flagship campuses
Sources
Company earnings releases and calls (July 2026), Synergy Research, TrendForce, SemiAnalysis, SCMP, Nvidia
Last verified
October 2026