The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that Alphabet said on Wednesday that capital expenditure could as much as double this year, in yet another aggressive spending increase by the Google parent as it deepens investments to push ahead in the artificial-intelligence race. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says Alphabet shares were volatile in after-hours trading -- falling 6 per cent before recouping losses, as investors weighed the swell in spending against surging revenue and profit, both of which beat expectations in the December quarter. The company said it was targeting capital expenditure of $175-billion to $185-billion this year, a massive jump compared with average analyst expectations that it would spend about $115.2-billion this year (all figures U.S.). The company spent $91.4-billion in 2025, primarily on AI infrastructure including servers, data centres and networking equipment. That compares with its projections for total spending of between US$91-billion and $93-billion last year. Growth in Google's cloud division, where the company is enjoying early returns on AI investment, helped the stock pare losses. The unit's revenue grew 48 per cent to $17.7-billion in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31.