Six Democratic senators are asking Amazon, Meta, Alphabet (Google’s parent) and Microsoft to disclose how much they deducted for AI-related spending and what tax-policy lobbying they pursued. Their September 27, 2026 letters request answers by October 11. The request is pending as of October 4; it is not a finding that any company claimed an improper deduction, and the letters do not state how much any company actually deducted specifically for AI.
What the senators want the companies to disclose
The letters, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and signed by Elissa Slotkin, Jeff Merkley, Bernie Sanders, Richard Blumenthal and Tina Smith, ask for tax-year 2025 information. The senators’ central question to Amazon was: “How much in tax deductions has your company claimed in tax year 2025 for spending on AI?” The Senate office announcement and letter to Amazon frame this as a request for company disclosures, not a reported calculation of the deductions.
Spending and tax details
They seek breakdowns for data-center construction and equipment, including servers and cooling systems; interest on debt used to finance AI capital expenditures; and utility and energy costs tied to AI research and development. They also ask what statutory provisions and agency tax policies each company lobbied for, how much it spent on lobbying and political donations, and about donations associated with projects linked to President Trump. The letter to Meta and letter to Alphabet make the request company-specific.
What the tax and spending figures show—and what they do not
The senators cite company filings to highlight changes in reported tax expense alongside rising pretax income. These figures are not the requested AI-only deduction totals, and the tax-expense measures do not have identical scopes across the companies.
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| Company | Tax-expense comparison cited | Pretax-income change | 2025 capital expenditures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | Current federal income tax expense: $9 billion in 2024 and $1.2 billion in 2025. | Up $28.7 billion. | $131.8 billion. |
| Meta | Current federal income tax expense: $9.6 billion in 2024 and $2.8 billion in 2025. | Up $15.3 billion. | $72 billion. |
| Alphabet | Combined current federal and state income tax expense: $21.1 billion in 2024 and $13.4 billion in 2025. | Up more than $39 billion. | $91.4 billion. |
The tax-expense and pretax-income figures are from the companies’ 2025 Form 10-Ks as cited in the senators’ Amazon, Meta and Alphabet letters. The capital-expenditure amounts are also filing figures relayed in those letters. The lawmakers characterize the bulk of Amazon’s spending as data-center construction and other AI spending, but the total is not an AI-only figure; the other capex totals likewise do not state an AI deduction or tax saving. Capital expenditures and tax deductions are different measures, so these figures cannot establish how much a company saved on AI.
Microsoft is included, but the cited comparison uses fiscal years
Microsoft was also included in the inquiry, although the announcement’s tax comparison covers fiscal years 2025 and 2026 rather than the calendar-year comparisons above. Warren’s office says Microsoft’s current federal tax expense fell by more than $11 billion while pretax income rose $42.3 billion. The announcement provides no further detail in the material cited here, and it does not give Microsoft’s AI-specific deductions.
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Why a lower tax expense does not answer the AI-deduction question
Current income tax expense, capital expenditures, tax deductions and cash taxes are related but distinct. A comparison of tax expense between years does not isolate the effect of AI spending, show which tax provisions caused a change, or reveal an AI-only amount claimed on a tax return. Nor does a large capital-expenditure total establish that the full amount was immediately deductible.
Amazon’s own 2026 Form 10-Q says its effective tax rate is expected to benefit from the U.S. federal research and development credit. It also says an IRS notice issued February 18, 2026 is expected to reduce Amazon’s cash taxes for 2024 and 2025. The filing does not quantify the portion attributable to AI-related spending. Amazon’s filing illustrates why a change in tax outcomes cannot, by itself, be assigned to one AI-related deduction.
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Which tax law and policy debate are involved?
The letters concern provisions of the 2025 One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and federal tax treatment that the senators say may allow immediate deductions for AI development and data-center investment. Their inquiry asks what the companies claimed and lobbied for; it does not determine each company’s eligibility or the tax treatment of a particular asset.
The senators also say corporate tax revenue decreased 25 percent, or $96 billion, in the current year, and argue that tax breaks shift costs to families through cuts to social services and a higher deficit. That is the lawmakers’ characterization; the materials cited here do not establish an independently isolated estimate attributing that revenue change to AI-related deductions.
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A separate Senate Finance Committee proposal
In August 2026, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden released a draft proposal to remove existing investment incentives as they apply to data centers and create a Data Center Public Investment excise tax. It is a separate proposal, not enacted law and not part of Warren’s disclosure request. The committee announcement said U.S. data-center construction had quadrupled over the previous four years and projected hyperscaler data-center spending at roughly $700 billion for 2026; those are committee-level figures, not evidence of any one company’s AI deductions. The committee release describes the proposal.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What happens next
The companies were asked to respond by October 11, 2026. As of October 4, the request remained pending, and the sources cited here establish no company response, IRS finding or court ruling about these specific AI deductions. Until company-specific disclosures provide the requested breakdowns, the amount each firm claimed for AI-related deductions—and any resulting tax savings—remains unstated.
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