Google · Calif · Wall Street · Fortune Technology
Alphabet President Ruth Porat on how Google is funding AI to win long term, and the biggest risks ahead
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Alphabet is spending roughly $200 billion this year to build out its AI capacity, and the company’s president and chief investment officer reiterated Google’s plan next year for the bill to be even more substantial.
Key facts
- Meanwhile, Google Cloud’s revenue climbed 82% to $24.8 billion, while its operating profit more than tripled to $8.8 billion
- In July, Alphabet lifted its 2026 capex outlook to as much as $205 billion, and the stock dropped more than 6% the following day, a sign of how hard Wall Street is pushing for proof the massive
- Porat, No. 11 on Fortune’s 2026 Most Powerful Women list, is shepherding one of the largest corporate spending sprees ever
- During the 2008 financial crisis, she worked closely with then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, leading the Morgan Stanley team that advised the Treasury Department on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Summary
Alphabet expects capital expenditures (capex) to “increase significantly” next year, Ruth Porat said Monday at Fortune ’s Most Powerful Women Summit in Santa Barbara, Calif., adding that the company remains “capacity constrained” as demand for compute grows. “The demand for compute—because of the value that our partners are seeing in the enterprise, in governments, what we’re seeing across our platform—suggests that we’re in the buildout here now,” she told Fortune Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell. Porat, No. 11 on Fortune’s 2026 Most Powerful Women list, is shepherding one of the largest corporate spending sprees ever.