Alphabet to raise $80B for AI; Berkshire commits $10B

Alphabet announced plans to raise $80 billion in new common stock to finance expansion of its artificial intelligence infrastructure. Berkshire Hathaway committed to buy $10 billion of the offering as the anchor institutional investor. Alphabet shares closed at $372.58 on Monday, down 1.02%, and traded near $367 in after-hours trading.

Alphabet told investors it expects 2026 capital expenditures of $180 billion to $190 billion, compared with $91.4 billion in 2025. Google Cloud reported $20 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2026, a 63% year-over-year increase, and carries a contract backlog of about $460 billion.

Executives described the equity sale as a way to raise permanent capital without adding debt to a balance sheet already supporting record infrastructure spending. Market observers have noted that heavy capital expenditures have reduced free cash flow at hyperscale cloud providers.

Berkshire Hathaway tripled its Alphabet stake in the first quarter of 2026 to roughly 58 million shares, a holding valued near $17 billion. The $10 billion subscription would place Berkshire among the largest non‑insider institutional holders. Berkshire reported a cash balance of $397.4 billion at quarter end after Greg Abel succeeded Warren Buffett as CEO.

An $80 billion offering against Alphabet’s roughly $4.5 trillion market capitalization represents about 1.8% share dilution on a simple pro forma basis. Market participants cited dilution concerns as a factor in Monday’s share decline.

Official transaction details and timing will be disclosed in upcoming SEC filings, which investors expect to specify pricing, structure and whether existing shareholders may participate.

Alphabet has increased investment in data centers, custom chips and networking to support generative AI products. Management pointed to Google Cloud’s revenue growth and large contract backlog as the rationale for higher spending.