According to Gartner forecasts cited by The Next Platform, AI-related IT spending reached $1.79 trillion in 2025 and is expected to grow to $2.67 trillion in 2026 and $3.64 trillion in 2027. That makes AI the fastest-growing part of the IT market, with spending nearly doubling over three years even as inflation, power constraints, and bubble concerns persist.
By contrast, traditional datacenter IT spending is in recession. Gartner's numbers show it declined 12.5% in 2025 to $3.79 trillion and is projected to keep falling to $3.43 trillion by 2027. The analysis estimates that 2026 will be the first year AI spending exceeds traditional IT spending.
Gartner also raised its AI infrastructure forecasts for 2026 and 2027 by $52.9 billion and $87.4 billion respectively, with AI-optimized servers from hyperscalers and service providers the largest spending area. The report quotes Gartner's John-David Lovelock calling the datacenter buildout "the largest infrastructure project humanity has ever undertaken." The author notes that some AI-labeled products, such as AI PCs and smartphones, are not counted as true AI infrastructure.