UBS: Global AI capital expenditure to rise to $1.4 trillion by 2027, with 90% of the increase coming from memory price hikes

BlockBeats news, September 20 — UBS currently expects AI capital expenditure to approach $1 trillion in 2026 and climb further to about $1.4 trillion in 2027, with the main reason behind this growth being a sharp rise in memory costs.

UBS estimates that memory-related spending will surge from $71 billion in 2025 to $367 billion this year, and reach $923 billion in 2027. The remaining AI-related costs are expected to be $631 billion in 2026 and fall back to $525 billion in 2027.

This means that this year, rising memory costs contributed about 60% of the increase in AI capital expenditure; by 2027, as spending on other components declines, the increase in memory costs will even exceed the entire net increase in AI capital expenditure.