Five US Tech Giants Buried Under Debt Exceeding Rp 30 Quadrillion

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – AI has opened up a new problem. Five American technology giants are buried in debt as a result of developing AI within each company.

Nikkei reported that the five companies—Alphabet, the parent of Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Oracle—are saddled with debt due to AI. The amount has reached US$1.65 trillion (Rp 29,515 trillion), as quoted from AI Weekly on Wednesday (22/7/2026).

The report stated that this debt sits off the balance sheets of all the companies.

The figure is also continuing to rise. Nikkei explained that the debt has swollen eightfold in just four years.

This phenomenon has occurred as investment in the AI industry has also increased over recent times.

The instruments included in the study are data centre leases and GPU supply contracts. All of these constitute obligations treated as debt if they must be paid regardless of demand, yet they are not recorded under debt items when the market assesses equity.

The report cited Meta as an example, with off-balance-sheet obligations reaching US$420 billion (Rp 7,523 trillion), or three times what is recorded.

It should also be noted that the companies’ debt is a construct rather than an accounting line item under GAAP. The report also does not detail the amount of debt at each individual company.