Alphabet’s AI risks deepen as filing reveals $98 billion in commitments beyond the $1 trillion spending

Alphabet disclosed $98.5 billion in contingent commitments, up $23 billion from the prior quarter, including data-centre lease guarantees, partner financing and potential obligations to repurchase up to $6.6 billion of AI chips from customers. Google Cloud backlog rose to $560.8 billion from $513.9 billion, but $16.8 billion was linked to its Crux AI joint venture, while energy guarantees increased to $16.2 billion. Paid Search clicks growth slowed to 8% from 13%, and lower monetisation of AI queries added pressure on the advertising business funding Alphabet's AI expansion.