Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) used to look like a tech company. Now it looks like an industrial giant with a balance sheet to match. In barely a year, Google's parent has leapt from a neat $11 billion in long-term debt to roughly $70 billion — a transformation that says more about the future of tech than any earnings call ever could.
How The Debt Blew Up This Fast
At the end of 2024, Alphabet was still a classic "capital-light" software behemoth: oceans of cash, minimal borrowing, pristine margins.
Then the AI arms race hit.
By late 2025, debt had already swollen to $46.5 billion, a 327% jump.
On Feb. 9, Alphabet layered on another $20 billion bond sale — plus a sterling century bond — pushing total debt near $70 billion. This isn't liquidity management. It's akin to war financing.
Why The Century Bond Really Matters
The 100-year bond is the sharpest part of this story. It hasn't been used by a major tech firm since Motorola in 1997 — a company that soon lost its dominance.
Alphabet's version functions like a financial "human shield": pension funds and insurers now have a direct stake in protecting Google from antitrust outcomes.
If the DOJ's breakup appeal succeeds, these bonds could suffer — turning global institutions into Alphabet's quiet defenders.
The $650B AI Infrastructure Tax
Alphabet isn't borrowing because it's weak; it's borrowing because AI is brutally capital-intensive. The company plans to spend $175 billion–$185 billion on capex in 2026, nearly double last year.
Alongside Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN), Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META), and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT), Big Tech is on track to spend $650 billion on AI infrastructure — more than America's largest industrial firms combined. Silicon is becoming steel.
The Confession Investors Can't Ignore
In its Feb. 4 10-K, Alphabet admitted that AI-powered search (Gemini AI etc.) could threaten its 90% ad-margin engine (Google Search).
That's the paradox: Wall Street is lending $100 billion to a company openly saying its core business might be disrupted by the very tech this debt is funding.
Tech isn't capital-light anymore — and Alphabet's balance sheet proves it.
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