China News Network (Zhongxin Jingwei) reported on July 21 that the five major U.S. technology companies’ “invisible debts” have reached $1.65 trillion.

　　According to a report by the Chinese-language website of Nikkei, investments in AI that do not appear on the balance sheets of major U.S. technology companies are swelling.

　　Focusing on five U.S. companies—Alphabet, which owns Google; Microsoft; Amazon; Meta; and Oracle—and using data from their most recent quarter (some figures estimated), the study counted each company’s combined “invisible debts.” It found that the debts not recorded on the asset-liability sheets of the five companies (off-balance-sheet liabilities) totaled $1.65 trillion, increasing eightfold within about four years. Among them, Meta’s off-balance-sheet liabilities were about $420 billion, reaching 2.8 times its actual debt.

The report points out that tech giants are rapidly increasing the computing resources they need for AI development, such as data centers, with both graphics processing units and servers covered by long-term purchase contracts.

Building a data center requires investment ranging from tens of billions to hundreds of billions of dollars. To increase computing resources while minimizing its initial burden as much as possible, companies often sign lease agreements with other data center operating firms, using land, buildings, and power equipment provided by the operators, along with technology giants leasing equipment long-term, among other approaches.

According to reports, under accounting standards, GPUs and servers under long-term contracts that have not yet been delivered are treated as off-balance-sheet items and are not included in the balance sheet. The same applies to data center lease agreements prior to commencement. For example, Oracle is working with U.S. OpenAI to advance the large-scale data center “Stargate” project, which relies on lease contracts with external operators. By the end of May 2026, Oracle’s off-balance-sheet liabilities reached $273.3 billion, growing more than 30 times over four years.

The report believes that in addressing off-balance-sheet liabilities, companies do not explain them through the balance sheet itself, but rather through notes in quarterly earnings report filings and similar disclosures. This is an appropriate accounting treatment, but for individual investors, it may be difficult to identify the risk information. (China News Network Weibo APP)

Edited by: Fu Jianqing

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