Big Tech companies must continue investing aggressively in artificial intelligence infrastructure because customer demand for computing power is already accelerating, CNBC's Jim Cramer said while defending the ongoing data center spending boom.

Cramer Says AI Infrastructure Demand Is Real, Not Speculative

Cramer pushed back against comparisons between the AI rally and the "if you build it, they will come" theme from the movie Field of Dreams. He argued that the analogy misunderstands the current market because cloud providers are not building infrastructure on speculation — they are responding to existing demand, CNBC reported on Wednesday.

According to Cramer, customers already need large-scale AI infrastructure, and cloud companies are racing to expand capacity fast enough to keep pace. He said the momentum behind the data center buildout continues to strengthen as more computing capacity is absorbed. Cramer stressed that the AI boom is not a "fairy tale," as companies are already deploying workloads and searching for infrastructure providers to handle them.

Amazon, Microsoft, And Alphabet Face Pressure To Keep Spending

Cramer pointed to Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) Amazon Web Services as proof that hyperscalers cannot afford to slow down investment. Amazon plans to spend about $200 billion in capital expenditures this year, with most of the spending directed toward expanding data center capacity.

Referencing comments from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, Cramer argued that companies that fail to expand infrastructure risk losing customers and revenue opportunities to rivals. He warned that if Amazon reduces spending, customers could shift workloads to competitors such as Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) or Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) instead. According to Cramer, cloud providers must keep building because AI customers will move to whichever company offers the necessary computing power and infrastructure.

OpenAI, Anthropic, And Meta Drive The AI Spending Race

Cramer said major AI companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta Platforms Inc. (META), are already seeking partners to support massive AI workloads. He emphasized that these customers are actively spending money now, not waiting for future adoption cycles. In his view, the urgency surrounding AI infrastructure spending reflects the immediate need for computing capacity across the industry.

Cramer also argued that many skeptics continue underestimating both the scale and speed of the current AI investment cycle. He said companies that delay infrastructure expansion risk falling behind competitors that continue to build out data center capacity aggressively.

Morgan Stanley raised its capital expenditure forecasts for major technology companies, now expecting Amazon.com, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Oracle Corp. (ORCL) to collectively spend about $805 billion in 2026, up from its earlier estimate of $765 billion. The firm also increased its 2027 projection to roughly $1.1 trillion, compared with its previous forecast of $951 billion.