<span>STORY: :: Google</span><span>Alphabet said Wednesday that capital expenditure could double this year.</span><span>Google’s parent company plans to spend up to $185 billion in 2026 in an effort to push ahead of the AI race.</span><span>That would be around twice last year’s figure, and far above analyst expectations.</span><span>:: Google</span><span>Executives said investments in AI computing capacity, including servers, data centers and networking equipment, are central to the company’s strategy.</span><span>Alphabet shares saw big swings in after-hours trade as investors balanced the big spending plans against revenue that also soared. </span><span>The stock dropped 6% before recovering to end the day flat. </span><span>Big Tech companies are expected to collectively shell out more than $500 billion on AI this year.</span><span>Facebook parent company Meta last week hiked investment in AI development by 73%, while Microsoft has also reported record quarterly capital expenditure.</span><span>:: Microsoft</span><span>:: Meta Platforms</span><span>It all comes at a time when investors have increasingly grown concerned about payoffs from AI investments.</span><span>Google, however, has been able to show strong progress in its AI efforts, helping its stock surge 76% since the beginning of last year.</span><span>The company’s cloud business reported stellar growth in the fourth quarter, with revenue surging by almost a half to $17.7 billion.</span><span>:: Google</span><span>Google says its enterprise-grade Gemini model has also sold 8 million paying seats. </span><span>Last month, it secured a partnership with Apple to power the iPhone maker’s AI offerings with Gemini.</span> 
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