Goldman Sachs estimates that off-balance-sheet commitments linked to artificial intelligence at major technology companies have reached approximately $4.11 trillion. The five largest cloud service providers — Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Oracle — account for $3.6 trillion in commitments, including $1.7 trillion in lease obligations and $1.9 trillion in other purchase commitments. More than 75% of the lease obligations have not yet commenced and therefore will not appear as liabilities on company balance sheets until they begin. Debt and lease liabilities recorded on the balance sheets of these companies total around $1 trillion, less than one quarter of their off-balance-sheet commitments. The rapid growth of these obligations and the increasing role of private credit raise questions about future cash flows, leverage and the concentration of risk for investors and lenders.
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