Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, Jan 29: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced plans to almost double the company’s AI investments in 2026, signaling a major push into artificial intelligence for the social media and technology giant.
In its Q4 earnings report released on Wednesday, Meta revealed that its capital expenditure on AI for 2026 will range between $115 billion and $135 billion, nearly twice the amount spent last year, when the company reorganised its AI division.
“As we plan for the future, we will continue to invest very significantly in infrastructure to train leading models and deliver personal super intelligence to billions of people and businesses around the world,” Zuckerberg said during the earnings call, as reported by CNBC.
The “infrastructure” mentioned by Zuckerberg refers to Meta’s expansive data centre projects, which will underpin both current and future AI initiatives.
Zuckerberg emphasised that 2026 will be a major year for AI, with investments aimed at his mission to create “personal super intelligence”, a goal he announced last year. However, he did not disclose specific new AI products or how they might generate revenue.
“I mean, we’re going to roll out new products over the course of the year. I think the important thing is, we’re not just launching one thing, and we’re building a lot of things,” he added.
Reports indicate that Meta’s TBD AI unit, led by former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang, has been testing a new AI model code-named Avocado, expected to succeed the LLaMA family of models. Zuckerberg hinted at this, stating, “I expect our first models will be good but, more importantly, will show the rapid trajectory that we’re on. And then I expect us to steadily push the frontier over the course of the year as we continue to release new models.”
When questioned on why Meta needed its own AI model, Zuckerberg described the company as a “deep technology company” and stressed that relying on external models could limit Meta’s innovation. Having proprietary AI models, he said, would allow Meta to “shape the future” of AI development on its own terms.
With nearly $135 billion earmarked for AI in 2026, Meta is positioning itself to compete aggressively in the AI race, while maintaining control over its technology stack and future AI products.