Meta Will Spend Record $60 Billion On AI This Year, Zuckerberg Says—After Trump Announces Stargate Deal With OpenAI

Core Insights - Meta plans to significantly increase its capital expenditures in 2025, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg projecting between $60 billion to $65 billion, which is a substantial rise from previous years [2][3] Group 1: Financial Projections - The projected capital expenditures for 2025 are well above the consensus analyst forecast of $51 billion for the current year, representing a 63% increase from the projected $38.4 billion in 2024 and a 129% increase from $27.3 billion in 2023 [3] - Meta's stock experienced a rally following the announcement, reaching a record intraday share price of $646.90 and an all-time high market value exceeding $1.6 trillion, with shares up more than 8% year-to-date [5] Group 2: AI Strategy - Zuckerberg emphasized that 2025 will be a defining year for AI, with plans to significantly expand Meta's AI teams as part of the increased spending [3] - The company aims for its Llama 4 large-language model to become the leading AI model, with expectations to end 2025 with over 1.3 million graphics processing units [4] Group 3: Industry Context - The announcement comes amid a competitive landscape in generative AI, highlighted by President Trump's $500 billion "Stargate" joint venture with OpenAI, which aims to enhance data center infrastructure for AI technology [6] - Meta's shift towards AI and away from its traditional social media roots has been ongoing since its rebranding from Facebook to Meta in 2021, despite initial investor skepticism [6]