Mark Zuckerberg spent all of 2024 telling investors that artificial intelligence would be the key to the future of his company Meta. In 2025, he plans to put his money where his mouth is.
On Friday, Mr. Zuckerberg said the company expects capital expenditures to reach an estimated $60 billion to $65 billion in 2025, a big increase from the roughly $38 billion to $40 billion Meta spent in 2024.
Much of that sum will go toward building and expanding data centers, the warehouse-sized buildings that provide the computing power that powers Meta's AI products and algorithms in its apps, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
“This is a monumental effort, and for years to come it will power our core products and businesses, unlock historic innovation and advance America's technology leadership,” Mr. Zuckerberg said in a post on his Facebook page.
He noted that the company also expects to own more than 1.3 million graphics processing units (GPUs) by the end of the year. A GPU is a type of computer chip that excels in the type of computing power needed for AI systems. As AI-powered apps and products have become increasingly popular in recent years, there has been an industry-wide shortage of GPUs, with tech companies large and small competing to buy as many as possible from companies like Nvidia.
And despite many layoffs and cuts to the company's workforce over the past three years, Mr. Zuckerberg said he planned to continue hiring “significant” staff to strengthen the teams responsible for working on AI and related products to grow.
Meta's share price rose about 1 percent on Friday.
Silicon Valley's tech giants are engaged in an infrastructure arms race as they battle to build the future of artificial intelligence. Google, Microsoft and Amazon have all earmarked billions of dollars for data centers and infrastructure projects, and have indicated that spending will not slow down in the near future.
On Tuesday, President Trump announced a joint venture between OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle called Stargate, which aims to invest at least $100 billion in US data centers. The group behind the project said it could invest as much as half a trillion dollars in Stargate over the next four years. Elon Musk, who runs a rival artificial intelligence startup, later questioned that figure.
Since Mr. Trump was elected in November, Mr. Zuckerberg has tried to repair their long-strained relationship. Mr. Zuckerberg has traveled to Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort several times, donated to and attended his inauguration and loosened restrictions on speech on Meta's apps, an issue that conservatives have fixated on for years.
Mr. Trump has pledged to accelerate production of American-made AI to compete against China for global leadership in the technology. On Thursday, he signed an executive order aimed at “removing barriers” to AI development in the United States.
Meta's announcement on Friday could be seen as “a response to Stargate's announcement earlier this week to remind investors of its leadership position in AI,” RBC Capital Markets analysts wrote in a research note. Meta will report its latest earnings results next week, when details such as investment plans are typically announced to investors.
Meta has long announced that it plans to invest heavily in data centers. The company had to pay restructuring costs of $4.3 billion in 2023 after deciding to redesign many of its future data center projects in preparation for AI projects. It has expanded its data center footprint to dozens of locations around the world, from Odense, Denmark to Huntsville, Ala.
Mr. Zuckerberg has said he plans to continue spending heavily on infrastructure to support what he believes will be the future of computing, powered by AI chatbots and other programs.
This includes Llama, Meta's open-source AI technology that can be downloaded for free by independent software developers to power their own AI apps.
Last year, Meta announced it would build its newest data center in Richland Parish, La. The company said the building would span more than four million square feet, an area so large that Mr. Zuckerberg said it would “cover a significant portion of Manhattan. .”
“Let's start building!” he wrote on his Facebook page, adding a flexor emoji.
