Google’s AI Waitlist Just Hit $514 Billion. That’s Bigger Than the GDP of Most Countries.

Eva Mathew

Sat, July 25, 2026 at 6:31 AM GMT+3 5 min read

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Google-parent Alphabet Inc. posted a blowout quarter on Wednesday, and buried in the numbers is a figure bigger than most countries' entire economies.

The YouTube owner's second-quarter revenue rose 24% to $119.8 billion, up from $96.4 billion a year earlier, beating Wall Street estimates. Profit hit $112.1 billion, a massive jump from the $28.1 billion reported a year ago. Growth was broad-based: Search and Other revenue grew 17%, and YouTube Ads grew 13%, while cloud revenue grew 82%, powered by strong demand for AI infrastructure and AI solutions.

That cloud strength is where the eye-popping number lives. Google Cloud's backlog — contracted work still waiting to be delivered — climbed to $514 billion, up from $490 billion the prior quarter.

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Per the IMF's World Economic Outlook data from April, that backlog alone outsizes the 2026 GDP projection of most countries, including the Philippines, Bangladesh, Denmark, Romania and South Africa. It also sits just below Malaysia's projected $516.4 billion economy.

And, only 38 economies are projected to have a larger GDP than that backlog, according to IMF estimates.

Source: IMF

Why It's Growing

Google Cloud brought in $24.8 billion for the quarter, with operating income more than tripling from $2.8 billion to $8.8 billion at a 35.6% margin. CEO Sundar Pichai credited enterprise adoption: "It's great to see the wide adoption of Gemini Enterprise, with nearly 90% of the Fortune 100 using it."

Still, growth isn't free. Capital expenditures hit $44.9 billion, more than double the $22.4 billion spent a year earlier, and free cash flow turned negative, at $5.9 billion. Alphabet raised its full-year capex guidance to $195 billion–$205 billion, and the stock slid in after-hours trading on Wednesday on the spending hike despite the earnings beat.

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Image: Julia Demaree Nikhinson-Pool via Imagn Images

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