Jim Cramer urges tech giants to stay aggressive on AI spending

Leading cloud providers can't afford to skimp on the AI expansion, CNBC's Jim Cramer emphasised on Wednesday.

Cramer's remarks followed a discussion he heard about the surge in data center and AI-related stocks being seen as akin to "if you build it, they will come"—the notion that companies are investing heavily in infrastructure in anticipation of future customers. 

However, Cramer argued using the well-known phrase from the movie "Field of Dreams" to describe the AI surge overlooks a key aspect: Customers are already present, and cloud providers are catching up with demand.

"The essence of this data center increase is that it's real, not a fantasy. The data centers are being constructed and customers truly are arriving," the "Mad Money" host highlighted. "They're on the field, they're seated... and interest is growing to fill every spot."

He cited Amazon and its cloud arm, Amazon Web Services, as proof that the AI expansion is moving past speculation. 

Amazon has pledged approximately $200 billion in capital outlays this year, much of it aimed at boosting data center capacity as competition heats up among major cloud players.

"Failing to construct the venue means they will head elsewhere, forfeiting significant revenue," Cramer noted, referencing Amazon CEO Andy Jassy's observations on the necessity of ongoing substantial investments.

Cramer pointed out that major clients like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta are already in search of computing power and infrastructure partners that can manage vast AI workloads.

"These potential, high-paying clients are already here, and unless you've invested in building the infrastructure, they'll find alternatives," he remarked.

Cramer observed that many doubters continue to underestimate the scale and urgency of the current AI investment cycle. 

Companies that slow down their investments risk losing business to competitors who keep expanding their capacity, he asserted.

"If Amazon doesn't invest the funds, the financial figures will decline because their business and billions in revenue might shift to Alphabet or Microsoft," he explained.

"For data centers, if you build them, they truly do come. And if you don't, they'll simply choose the competitor who did."