Google increases its bet on AI, cash becomes negative and the market looks to 2027

Google continues to accelerate in artificial intelligence, and the account already appears in the parent company's numbers.

According to Times Brasil, Alphabet increased investments in AI and cloud infrastructure. In the third quarter, free cash flow was negative at around US$9.1 billion, equivalent to approximately R$48.6 billion, according to Reuters, cited in the same report.

For 2026, the planned investment is between US$195 billion and US$205 billion, or somewhere between R$1.04 trillion and R$1.09 trillion. These are figures that give the dimension of the dispute for leadership in AI and force the market to look beyond the current year.

The point that worries investors most, however, is what has not yet been defined. There is no official investment forecast for 2027, and fears of a new increase in spending are growing. For those who defend fiscal discipline and responsibility with shareholders' capital, the question is how far progress can go without putting pressure on cash.

In other words, the race for AI is no longer just a technological discussion and has also become a question of capital management. The more the company invests, the more the return on these resources needs to appear on the balance sheet.

What changes for the investor

For those who follow Alphabet on the stock market, the table calls for attention to the balance between spending and cash generation. A negative free cash flow and the absence of official numbers for 2027 make it difficult to project results for the coming years, and a new increase in spending tends to increase this uncertainty. The article does not provide a purchase or sale recommendation or price estimate. What is worth monitoring are the next balance sheets, to see if the advances in AI translate into cash and if the company starts to disclose goals for the following period.

Automatically translated from Portuguese.