Google must rapidly expand its AI capacity to prevent the growing demand for generative AI services from outstripping the company’s capabilities.
This was reported by CNBC. During an internal meeting, Amin Vahdat, responsible for AI infrastructure at Google Cloud, emphasized that the company must double its computing and delivery capacity every six months. According to him, Google is facing a technological and financial race in which infrastructure is the determining factor.
In his presentation, Vahdat stated that the company must achieve a thousandfold increase in capacity over the next four to five years to remain competitive.
The AI market is developing at an unprecedented pace, and all major hyperscalers are investing heavily. Alphabet has again raised its investment forecast this year to $91 to $93 billion, with another significant increase in 2026. Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta are doing the same.
Nevertheless, Vahdat emphasized that for Google, it is not simply a matter of spending more than the competition. According to him, the goal is to build infrastructure that is more reliable and scalable than what is available elsewhere. An essential part of this is more efficient AI models and the use of Google’s own chips, such as the new Ironwood TPU, which the company says is significantly more energy efficient than previous generations.
Google also sees DeepMind, which is researching how AI models will develop in the coming years, as a strategic asset. To make that future possible, Vahdat says Google needs to make huge leaps in computing, storage, and network capacity without increasing costs or energy consumption.
Continued pressure on cloud infrastructure
CEO Sundar Pichai spoke at the same meeting about the intensity of the current AI competition. He pointed out that 2026 will be a tough year, partly due to the continued pressure on cloud infrastructure. He also addressed employees’ questions about the possibility of an AI bubble.
Pichai indicated that the topic is clearly playing a role in the market, but emphasized that the risk of underinvesting is greater than that of overinvesting. He stated that cloud revenue could have been even higher if Google had had more computing power available.
According to Pichai, Google remains financially solid enough to weather market fluctuations. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that the company is in a highly competitive phase in which success cannot be taken for granted. The market remains nervous: shares in various AI companies have recently come under pressure, and even Google and Nvidia have not escaped declines despite strong figures.