Gartner Forecasts Worldwide AI Spending to Grow 49.5% in 2026
$2.7 trillion. That's the worldwide AI spending forecast for 2026 — a 49.5% year-over-year surge driven by infrastructure buildout and software embedding.
Why it matters
Gartner's forecast signals sustained mega-scale capital deployment into AI, with infrastructure investment converging with AI embedding across enterprise software. Practitioners budgeting for 2026 need to account for intensifying competition for compute and talent; enthusiasts tracking the buildout story get a data point on the pace of the AI economy's expansion.
The key facts
5 to knowWorldwide AI spending forecast: $2.7 trillion in 2026
Year-over-year growth rate: 49.5%
Primary drivers: AI infrastructure investment + AI embedding into software and services
Source: Gartner, Inc.
Published: September 18, 2026
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Publisher excerpt: Convergence of AI Infrastructure Investment and AI Embedding into Software and Services is Driving AI Spending to Unprecedented Levels STAMFORD, Conn., Sept. 18, 2026 — Worldwide spending on AI is forecast to total $2.7 trillion in 2026, a 49.5% increase year-over-year, according to Gartner, Inc.,…