Meta and Microsoft are at the forefront of tech firms investing heavily in leasing data centers for artificial intelligence, with each spending tens of billions of dollars in the last quarter, according to a report.
This new agreement brings the overall future data center lease value among major cloud companies to over $850 billion.
The necessity for these leases has been on the rise over the past year as tech companies expand server farms to accommodate the anticipated increase in AI usage in the future.
The majority of these leases are set to unfold over the next two decades, which suggests that spending on essential data center components like semiconductors and energy will likely continue unabated, despite some regional resistance.
Meta has seen the largest surge in data center investments.
The company reportedly reached $182.9 billion in future lease obligations by March 31, having added $79 billion in the latest quarter—a staggering 76% increase.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, mentioned that the company plans to invest hundreds of billions into AI infrastructure by the end of this decade.
Microsoft’s future lease commitments rose by over $41 billion to $196.6 billion. However, it has faced limitations due to data center capacity after reducing leases for much of 2025.
This week, Microsoft also declared a significant data center project in West Texas, collaborating with Chevron.
Amazon has also raised its future lease obligations, reportedly committing $10 billion this quarter, which is less than half of its previous quarter’s total.
Oracle, however, bucked this trend with a slight decrease in future lease commitments from the previous quarter.
Nonetheless, Oracle still holds the most substantial future spending commitments due to its previous acquisition of key sites necessary for a large contract with OpenAI.
This liability will usually remain off-balance sheet until payments commence and primarily pertains to data centers but can also encompass properties like office spaces and warehouses. Certain agreements may allow for adjustments that can lessen a company’s future obligations under specific conditions.
Inquiries have been made to Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft for additional comments.
