Google glass was not something huge, in my mind. It was a blip. I never even heard of it until recently. I never saw the hype. I don't understand crypto. Never paid much attention to it.
Not that much was ever invested in Google glass. It is truly incredible.
Skepticism is fine, but AI is already overwhelmingly big and important and growing.
AI, on the other hand: "Total global spending on AI is projected to reach
$2.52 trillion to $2.59 trillion, representing over 40% of all global IT spending.
1.
Unlike previous tech booms that focused on software development, the current surge is dominated by physical hardware, computing power, and energy. According to recent 2026 data from firms like Gartner:
- AI Infrastructure ($1.37 Trillion): This is the largest single slice of the pie. It includes specialized AI data centers, high-end GPU clusters (which drove Nvidia past a $5 trillion market cap), and network fabric.
- Big Tech Capital Expenditure: Just four "hyperscalers"—Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta—have collectively budgeted between $660 billion and $720 billion for capital expenditures, directed almost entirely at AI data centers and infrastructure. For scale, Amazon alone has targeted roughly $200 billion in AI investments, while Alphabet is raising $80 billion in fresh cash to fuel a planned $190 billion spend.
- Semiconductor Mega-Projects: To keep pace with chip demand, massive regional initiatives are underway. For instance, Samsung and SK Hynix announced a joint $518 billion investment to build a massive new computer chipmaking hub in South Korea.
2. Software, Models, and Services
While infrastructure eats up nearly half of the capital, the remaining investment is split across deployment:
- AI Software & GenAI Models (~$450–$480 Billion): Enterprise software and the training of foundational models are expanding rapidly, with generative AI model spending seeing an 80% year-over-year growth rate.
- AI Consulting and Services (~$585 Billion): Because most companies lack internal machine learning expertise, hundreds of billions are flowing to enterprise consulting firms (like PwC, Deloitte, and Accenture) to help bridge the skills gap and deploy AI into existing corporate workflows.
3. Long-Term Forecasts: The Multi-Trillion Dollar Horizon
Looking further down the road, the numbers become even more exponential. Goldman Sachs estimates that tech companies will spend a cumulative
$7.6 trillion through 2031 just to build and power the thousands of new data centers required to keep up with agentic workflows and advanced AI systems." Gemini.
