Cloud computing giants set off a $500 billion data center leasing craze, with Oracle's spending commitments standing out.

Cloud computing companies such as Oracle Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, and Meta Platforms Inc. have committed to investing a total of $500 billion in data center leasing over the next few years, highlighting the industry's significant bet on artificial intelligence. According to analysis of quarterly filings, expenditures on leasing server clusters have been steadily increasing over the past few quarters as more tech giants sign agreements. In addition to existing leasing contracts, these future costs will not immediately appear on the companies' balance sheets, but will instead be recorded once the companies start making payments. These costs are typically related to data centers, but may also include facilities such as offices or warehouses. Some leasing contracts also include clauses that allow companies to waive future obligations under specific circumstances. Oracle has invested the most in data center leasing, signing agreements worth around $150 billion in just the three months leading up to November, bringing its total commitment to $248 billion. The company is working on building state-of-the-art data centers to support the training and deployment of OpenAI's latest models.