Big Tech's $700B+ AI Spending Surge Raises Data Sovereignty Concerns in Europe

Global tech giants are projected to spend over $700 billion in 2026 on AI infrastructure, dwarfing European sovereign cloud investments and intensifying debates over data sovereignty. Amazon leads with $200 billion in CapEx, followed by Alphabet ($185B), Microsoft ($145B), and Meta ($135B). Total AI-related CapEx is forecast to exceed $5 trillion by 2030. Nvidia, the primary beneficiary, will report earnings on February 25. Europe's spending is forecast at €10.6 billion, a fraction of U.S. outlays. Mistral AI plans €1 billion in 2026 CapEx and a €1.2 billion data center in Sweden. U.S. firms are rolling out localized cloud zones to address European regulators, but critics say these remain dependent on U.S. parent companies.