LIVE MARKETS-The capex boom, minus AI

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THE CAPEX BOOM, MINUS AI

Nobody will be surprised to learn that artificial intelligence is driving much of today's global investment boom - what's interesting is just how much of it.

BofA Global Research crunched the numbers and found that, excluding spending by U.S. hyperscalers and a handful of semiconductor companies, global capital spending growth would look more like a conventional investment cycle.

Excluding the AI spenders, BofA sees global capex growth of 6% in both 2026 and 2027, slowing to just 1% in 2028. Include them, and the figures jump to 29%, 22% and 6%, respectively.

"Non-AI related growth remains in line with history at best," analysts at the bank write.

The regional breakdown tells a similar story.

The Americas are forecast to post capex growth of 44% in 2026, while Asia Pacific is expected to grow by 13%. In EMEA, where exposure to data-centre investment is lower and the chip industry is smaller, growth is seen at just 6%.

(Danilo Masoni)

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