Oracle at Center of Tech’s $500 Billion AI-Fueled Rent Spree (1)

Cloud-computing companies including Oracle Corp., Microsoft Corp. and Meta Platforms Inc. have committed to spend a combined $500 billion on data center leases in the coming years, an astronomical sum that underscores the bet the industry is making on artificial intelligence.

These obligations have steadily climbed in recent quarters as tech giants inked deals to rent server farms, according to a Bloomberg analysis of quarterly filings.

The future costs, which are in addition to active leases, won’t appear on companies’ balance sheets until they begin making payments on them. Generally they’re tied to data centers, but can also include ...