Google’s spending and antitrust updates
An analysis says Alphabet is preparing for sharply higher capital spending—cited as a roughly $180 billion capex plan—as it leans into AI-driven Search and Cloud revenue. Separately, a D.C. court dismissed a newspaper publishers’ antitrust case against Google for lack of standing and failure to prove an online‑news monopoly. (ibtimes.com.au) (ppc.land)
Alphabet is spending far more on artificial intelligence infrastructure while winning, for now, a court fight over whether it monopolized online news. (abc.xyz) On February 4, 2026, Alphabet told investors it expects 2026 capital expenditures of $175 billion to $185 billion. That is up from the roughly $75 billion plan it gave for 2025 on its February 4, 2025 earnings call. (abc.xyz 1) (abc.xyz 2) Alphabet tied the spending increase to demand for Google Cloud and its artificial intelligence products. In the same February 2026 results, Alphabet said Google Cloud revenue rose 48% to $17.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, while companywide revenue reached $113.8 billion. (sec.gov) The legal update came from a separate front in Washington. On March 20, 2026, United States District Judge Amit P. Mehta dismissed an antitrust suit filed by Helena World Chronicle and Emmerich Newspapers against Google and Alphabet. (law.justia.com) (courtlistener.com) Mehta wrote that the publishers lacked antitrust standing to press claims tied to general search, and he said they failed to plead a relevant market or monopoly power in an alleged online news market. The opinion also said Google’s motion to dismiss the amended complaint was granted. (law.justia.com) The two developments land as Google is already under court scrutiny over search. The publishers’ complaint was filed on December 11, 2023, and marked as related to the United States search antitrust case first filed in October 2020. (courtlistener.com 1) (courtlistener.com 2) Alphabet has argued that its artificial intelligence push is producing measurable business gains. In the February 2026 call, Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said the company was seeing “AI investments and infrastructure drive revenue and growth across the board,” while the earnings release said Google Cloud ended 2025 at an annual revenue run rate of more than $70 billion. (abc.xyz 1) (abc.xyz 2) The publishers argued Google had used its power in search to become what the complaint called “America’s largest news publisher” through search results pages and generative artificial intelligence products. Mehta said those allegations still did not plausibly establish an online news monopoly under antitrust law. (law.justia.com) The next checkpoint for investors is Alphabet’s first-quarter 2026 earnings call, which the company scheduled on April 23, 2026. That report will show whether the company’s bigger spending plan is still accelerating as its court fights continue. (abc.xyz)
