The know-how sector’s frantic race to construct synthetic intelligence infrastructure has created a large, monetary overhang. In accordance with a latest sector in-depth report by Moody’s Scores, the highest 5 U.S. hyperscalers have amassed $662 billion in future information heart lease commitments not but begun that, due to that truth, usually are not present liabilities and due to this fact at the moment sit solely off their stability sheets. As these leases start over the following a number of years, and as landlords’ obligations are fulfilled, that greater than half a trillion {dollars} value of data-center exercise will likely be recorded on the stability sheet.
The report, which analyzed the monetary disclosures of Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Oracle, highlights how the unprecedented build-out of AI information facilities is straining conventional accounting metrics. As of the top of 2025, these 5 tech giants had amassed a staggering $969 billion in whole undiscounted future lease commitments, or information facilities which have but to be constructed. Nevertheless, greater than two-thirds of this whole, that $662 billion determine is for leases which have but to begin, that means that underneath GAAP accounting ideas, these firms usually are not required to acknowledge these huge obligations on their present stability sheets.
To place the size of this hidden obligation into perspective, Moody’s accounting analysts David Gonzales and Alastair Drake calculated that the unrecorded $662 billion is equal to 113% of those 5 hyperscalers’ most up-to-date adjusted debt.
David Gonzales informed Fortune in a press release that it’s “not as if [these hyperscalers] have have avoided a liability through structuring,” characterizing the $662 billion at challenge as “yet to be on the balance sheet,” somewhat than lacking. “More accurately,” he added, “they have not yet received the services to trigger this liability as of this time, but they will.”
For example, Alphabet disclosed in a footnote within the third quarter of 2025 that it had “entered into leases primarily related to data centers that have not yet commenced with future lease payments of $42.6 billion, including a purchase option considered reasonably certain to be exercised, that are not yet recorded on our Consolidated Balance Sheet. These leases will commence between 2025 and 2031 with non-cancelable lease terms between one and 25 years.”
That got here after a Q2 disclosure stating Alphabet had “entered into leases primarily associated to information facilities that haven’t but commenced with future lease funds of $23.9 billion, that aren’t but recorded on our Consolidated Stability Sheets. These leases will begin between 2025 and 2031 with non-cancelable lease phrases between one and 25 years.
From the second to the third quarter, future lease funds, an unrecorded future obligation, jumped from $23.9 billion to $42.6 billion.
Meta, Amazon and Microsoft declined to remark. Alphabet and Oracle didn’t reply to requests for remark.
What’s going on with these leases
The basis of this accounting phenomenon lies within the distinctive nature of AI {hardware} and the principles governing company leases. Traditionally, U.S. information heart leases spanned 10 to fifteen years. However as a result of the cutting-edge semiconductor and know-how tools required for AI sometimes has a helpful lifetime of simply 4 to 6 years, hyperscalers are demanding shorter preliminary lease phrases with choices to resume. And “to make the investment case for landlords,” the notice explains, “these structures are often backstopped by a significant off-balance-sheet guarantee from the lessee.”
Underneath GAAP, which stands for typically accepted accounting ideas, a lease renewal interval is simply included in an organization’s lease legal responsibility if the renewal is deemed “reasonably certain”—a excessive threshold requiring higher than 70% certainty. (GAAP ideas emerged within the Nineteen Thirties as a response to the 1929 inventory market crash that coincided with, even precipitated, the onset of the Nice Melancholy.) As a result of future AI methods and know-how upgrades are extremely unpredictable, tech giants can justifiably argue that they aren’t fairly sure to resume, thereby protecting the potential renewal prices off their books.
However landlords nonetheless require monetary safety to assemble these specialised, multi-billion-dollar amenities. To bridge this hole, hyperscalers are using important off-balance-sheet ensures, most notably “Residual Value Guarantees” (RVGs). An RVG acts as a backstop; if a tech firm cancels or doesn’t renew a lease, it should pay the owner the distinction if the information heart’s market worth falls beneath a pre-agreed threshold.
Crucially, US GAAP permits firms to defer reporting these anticipated RVG obligations. Until it’s deemed “probable” that the lease will finish with out renewal, the contingent legal responsibility of the RVG doesn’t must be recorded on the stability sheet. Moody’s notes that “if a company concludes a lease renewal is likely to be exercised, but not reasonably certain, it can avoid classifying both the lease renewal periods and the residual value guarantee as liabilities”.
Meta Platforms supplies a placing instance of this apply. In its latest SEC filings, Meta disclosed getting into into information heart leases commencing in 2029 with an preliminary dedication of roughly $12.3 billion. Alongside this, Meta supplied an RVG with a large combination threshold of $28 billion. As a result of Meta deemed the RVG payouts “not probable,” no legal responsibility was recorded for this $28 billion assure.
In a chartbook revealed almost concurrently with Moody’s report, Apollo International Administration’s Chief Economist Torsten Slok labored to place the enormity of data-center spending into perspective. With whole capital expenditure on information facilities estimated at roughly $646 billion, or about 2% of U.S. GDP, Slok famous that’s roughly equal to the GDP for Singapore, Sweden and Argentina. Protection spending in 2025, in the meantime, was round $917 billion.
Moody’s warned that these opaque accounting practices masks the true financial threat going through the tech business. Whereas leasing reduces upfront capital investments, carrying such huge future commitments severely limits an organization’s monetary and working flexibility, particularly if AI business circumstances change quickly. As a result of these liabilities are hidden, Moody’s concluded, in its personal jargony, rankings agencyish approach, that it’s contemplating new methods to have a look at this challenge.
“The accounting liability is unlikely to reflect certain plausible future scenarios … With this in mind, we will continue to assess cash exposures and debt-like adjustments as time progresses and the dates of new leases draw nearer. We may make a non-standard adjustment to Moody’s adjusted debt based on our expectation of likely cash outflows.”
