Alphabet Discloses $98.5 Billion in Contingent AI Commitments Beyond $1 Trillion Obligations

Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG) disclosed about $98.5 billion in contingent commitments that could become actual liabilities under certain conditions, according to a quarterly filing submitted Thursday. The figure, up roughly $23 billion from the prior quarter, sits on top of more than $1 trillion in disclosed purchase, lease and other spending obligations tied to AI. The arrangements include guarantees on data center rent, support for partners buying power equipment, and potential buybacks of AI chip systems. Energy-related guarantees more than doubled to $16.2 billion, with terms extending to January 2049, and Alphabet may repurchase up to $6.6 billion of sold TPU systems at preset discounts. Google Cloud's remaining performance obligations rose to $560.8 billion from $513.9 billion, a $46.9 billion quarterly increase. About $16.8 billion, or 36%, came from Crux AI, a joint venture listed as a related party and backed by up to $10 billion of Alphabet guarantees, drawing scrutiny of order quality. Paid clicks on Google Search grew 8% year over year, down from 13% in the second quarter.