Meta Platforms Inc. plans to invest up to $65 billion in artificial intelligence projects in 2025, including the construction of a massive new data center and expanding its AI workforce, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Friday.
Meta plans to allocate the funds toward constructing a data center “so large it would cover a significant part of Manhattan,” Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post.
The company aims to bring about a gigawatt of computing power online by 2025 and is expected to have over 1.3 million graphics processing units by the end of the year.
“This is a massive effort, and over the coming years it will drive our core products and business, unlock historic innovation, and extend American technology leadership,” Zuckerberg wrote in the post.
Meta has made substantial investments in AI over the past few years, including a recent $10 billion data center project in Louisiana. The company has also acquired new computer chips to support products like its AI assistant and Ray-Ban smartglasses. Zuckerberg mentioned that Meta plans to “grow our AI teams significantly” in 2025.
This announcement follows shortly after OpenAI, SoftBank Group Corp., and Oracle Corp. revealed a $100 billion joint venture, Stargate, designed to develop data centers and AI infrastructure across the United States.
Zuckerberg suggested last summer that Meta and its competitors might be overspending on AI.
However, he emphasized that the risk of losing a few billion dollars is preferable to missing out on a major shift in computing.
“I think that there’s a meaningful chance that a lot of the companies are over-building now, and that you’ll look back and you’re like, ‘oh, we maybe all spent some number of billions of dollars more than we had to,’” Zuckerberg told Bloomberg in July.
“On the flip side, I actually think all the companies that are investing are making a rational decision, because the downside of being behind is that you’re out of position for like the most important technology for the next 10 to 15 years.”
Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Credit Analyst Robert Schiffman wrote on Friday that Meta’s significant rise in capital spending for 2025, potentially reaching $65 billion, surpassing last year’s figures and expectations, could be its most effective use of capital.
He believes it will drive future growth and position Meta as a leader in AI capabilities.
