Meta Plans Massive 2026 AI Spending Surge, Up to $135 Billion Outlay

• Meta projects capital expenditure for 2026 to be $115 billion to $135 billion, nearly double the $72 billion spent in 2025.
• The surge in AI spending is driven by investments in Meta Superintelligence Labs and core business, aiming for personal superintelligence.
• Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced a new "Meta Compute" initiative to build tens of gigawatts of compute power this decade.
• Key cost drivers include infrastructure costs (cloud spend, depreciation) and rising employee compensation due to aggressive AI hiring.
• Meta reset its AI strategy after setbacks with Llama 4 and researcher departures, focusing on new models and integrating LLMs into its apps.

Why It Matters: Meta is significantly increasing its AI investment to become a leading frontier AI lab, despite recent setbacks.