Global AI spending to reach $1.5 trillion in 2025
In a recent Gartner forecast, it was noted that global AI spending is projected to total nearly $1.5 trillion in 2025.
According to John David Lovelock, VP Analyst at Gartner, “The forecast assumes continued investment in AI infrastructure expansion, as major hyperscalers continue to increase investments in data centers with AI-optimized hardware and GPUs to scale their services.”
He added that the AI investment landscape is also expanding beyond traditional U.S. tech giants, including Chinese companies and new AI cloud providers. Furthermore, venture capital investment in AI providers is providing additional tailwinds for AI spending.
Looking towards 2026, overall global AI spending is forecast to top $2 trillion, led in large part by AI being integrated into products such as smartphones and PCs as well as infrastructure.
Table 1: AI Spending in IT Markets, Worldwide, 2024-2026 (Millions of U.S. Dollars)
| Market | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
| AI Services | 259,477 | 282,556 | 324,669 |
| AI Application Software | 83,679 | 172,029 | 269,703 |
| AI Infrastructure Software | 56,904 | 126,177 | 229,825 |
| GenAI Models | 5,719 | 14,200 | 25,766 |
| AI-optimized Servers (GPU and Non-GPU AI Accelerators) | 140,107 | 267,534 | 329,528 |
| AI-optimized IaaS | 7,447 | 18,325 | 37,507 |
| AI Processing Semiconductors | 138,813 | 209,192 | 267,934 |
| AI PCs by ARM and x86 | 51,023 | 90,432 | 144,413 |
| GenAI Smartphones | 244,735 | 298,189 | 393,297 |
| Total AI Spending | 987,904 | 1,478,634 | 2,022,642 |
Source: Gartner (September 2025)
The biggest expenses are on AI services, GPU servers, and AI smartphones
According to the Gartner forecast, the biggest spending in 2025 is on AI services at $282 billion, GenAI smartphones at $298 billion and AI application software expenditure reaching $172 billion. This will increase in 2026, with spending on AI services set to reach $324 billion, GenAI smartphones to $393 billion and AI applications to $269 billion.
MENA IT spending is set to reach $169 billion in 2026, fueled by data center investment. Saudi Arabia’s data center market is projected to grow from $1.33 billion in 2024 to $3.9 billion by 2030, while the U.S. data center market is currently valued at over $200 billion.
In August, another Gartner IT forecast for MENA found that IT spending across the region is set to reach $169 billion in 2026 – an 8.9% increase from the current year.
The biggest spending in MENA would be on data centers, forecasted to grow in MENA by 37.3% in 2026, reaching nearly $13 billion. The acceleration in data center investment comes from an increased demand for generative AI and large-scale machine learning which require vast compute power.
Eyad Tachwali, Vice President, Advisory at Gartner. “The strongest demand is coming from hyperscalers, government entities, and AI-focused tech providers, rather than traditional enterprises.”
Saudi Arabia AI spending to reach $1.44 billion in 2025
In light of this global and regional investment in AI, IDC research noted that Saudi Arabia’s AI spending is set to hit $1.44B in 2025 and soar to $6.4B by 2030.
During the recent Money20/20 event in Saudi Arabia this month, AI took center stage, as Saudi Arabia is projected to reap nearly $135.2 billion from AI by 2030, equivalent to 12.4% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) as per PWC.
Humain, a Saudi artificial intelligence company established under the Public Investment Fund to drive the Kingdom’s AI strategy, announced $23 billion investment targets for strategic industry partnerships, and $10 billion venture fund.
California-based AI company Groq in February secured a $1.5 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia for expanded delivery of its chips. In December, Groq built what it said was the region’s largest AI inference cluster in the kingdom.
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