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Gartner analysts forecast worldwide AI spending will reach nearly $1.5 trillion in 2025 – and surpass the $2 trillion mark in 2026. This is no passing fad, they say; AI has now joined the internet and cloud computing as a foundational, transformative technology.
According to Gartner and Computerwoche, key drivers behind this explosive growth in AI spending – including generative AI (GenAI) – are the deep integration of AI into smartphones and PCs, as well as the underlying infrastructure required to support it.
U.S.-based market research firm Gartner expects global AI spending to hit nearly $1.5 trillion in 2025 – surging to over $2 trillion by 2026. That figure would be roughly triple Germany’s 2026 federal budget of approximately €520.47 billion – and more than double the $987.9 billion spent globally on AI in 2024.
Hyperscalers invest en masse
By 2028, virtually no smartphone, tablet, or PC will ship without AI built in. Header Image Source: Pexels / energepic.com
“We anticipate continued, sustained expansion of investments in AI infrastructure. Major hyperscalers are still pouring massive capital into data centers equipped with AI-optimized hardware and GPUs to scale their services at unprecedented levels,” John David Lovelock, Gartner Vice President, told Computerwoche. “No enterprise can afford to opt out of AI anymore.”
He adds: “The AI investment landscape has long since moved beyond traditional U.S. tech giants. Chinese firms and new entrants offering AI cloud services are increasingly active in the market. At the same time, ongoing venture capital backing for AI startups is providing additional momentum to global AI spending.”
In 2024, the largest share of AI spending went to services – but by 2025, GenAI-powered smartphones had already taken the top spot. Per Gartner’s projections, these devices will account for nearly $400 billion – or the largest single segment – of global AI spending in 2026, followed by AI-optimized servers (including accelerators), AI services, and AI chips.
KI-optimierte überholen bald traditionelle Server
Lovelock calls the projected growth trajectory for AI-optimized servers – those equipped with GPU and non-GPU accelerators – “particularly striking.” Their share of global AI spending is expected to more than double between 2024 and 2026. “The sheer scale of spending here is dizzying – especially when you consider that today, practically everything in the world runs on traditional servers: banking systems, travel visa processing, and all the services operated by Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Tencent, Alibaba, or Baidu,” he notes. In his view, by 2027 and 2028, more money will flow into AI-optimized servers than into traditional ones.
Demand for servers purchased by banks, financial institutions, or hyperscalers remains consistently high. GenAI servers, he stresses, primarily drive new business – and won’t cannibalize existing or other infrastructure investments in this space.
“In 2024, the largest share of AI spending went to services – but by 2025, GenAI-powered smartphones had already taken the top spot.”
KI in Endkunden-Hardware bleibt „Beiwerk“
With AI PCs, the situation differs: AI is largely bundled and sold alongside the device – not driven by explicit customer demand. Today’s PC buyers choose models based on budget and performance – not specifically seeking out AI-optimized or AI-capable hardware. The same holds true for smartphones with AI features: many users still don’t know how to use them – or why they matter. Yet according to Gartner, this category will become the largest AI segment by 2025 and 2026.
In short, AI is now unavoidable. “We’re long past the point where we debate whether AI is coming,” says Lovelock. “By 2028, it will be virtually impossible to buy a smartphone, PC, tablet, or laptop without AI embedded in some form.”
Header Image Source: Pexels / Tara Winstead
Read more auf cloudmagazin.com
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