7 AI firms commit $4.11 trillion in agreements, up 31.8% from end of August

Seven AI-linked companies—Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, NVIDIA, Broadcom, and SpaceX—have disclosed roughly $4.11 trillion in off-balance-sheet spending and guarantee commitments, mostly tied to data center leases and equipment and service purchase contracts, per a re-tabulation of corporate filings reported by ZeroHedge. The figure is up 31.8% from Morgan Stanley's late-August tally of $3.12 trillion, an increase of about $992 billion. Including commitments Morgan Stanley previously compiled from media reports, the total rises to $4.29 trillion. The rapid growth in off-balance-sheet obligations underscores how heavily AI capex is being financed outside traditional balance-sheet metrics, a potential risk factor for credit and cash-flow assessments of hyperscalers and chip suppliers. Watch for further disclosure revisions, how these commitments are allocated across data center leases versus chip and equipment purchases, and whether auditors or regulators scrutinize the off-balance-sheet treatment.