Meta Platforms plans to ramp up its capital expenditures to as much as $72 billion in 2025, a $30 billion year-over-year increase, as it accelerates investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure to fuel next-generation product development and research.
The aggressive spending plans, outlined in the company’s second-quarter earnings report on Wednesday, signal Meta’s intent to lead in AI through the development of advanced data centers and supercomputing clusters. Capital expenditure for 2025 is projected to range between $66 billion and $72 billion, including lease payments, up sharply from the roughly $40 billion in 2024.
“We currently expect 2025 capital expenditures, including principal payments on finance leases, to be in the range of $66–72 billion, up approximately $30 billion year-over-year at the midpoint,” the company said.
Meta’s AI strategy is centered on building massive compute clusters, including Prometheus in Ohio, expected to be one of the world’s first AI facilities to reach one gigawatt of computing capacity, and Hyperion in Louisiana, which could scale up to five gigawatts, roughly equivalent to powering millions of homes. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has described Hyperion’s potential footprint as “the size of Manhattan.”
“We expect that developing leading AI infrastructure will be a core advantage in developing the best AI models and product experiences,” said CFO Susan Li during the earnings call. “So we expect to ramp our investments significantly in 2026 to support that work.”
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Meta is also considering financing strategies to share the load of its infrastructure investments. “We don’t have any finalized transactions to announce,” Li said, “but we generally believe that there will be models here that will attract significant external financing to support large-scale data center project, while providing us with flexibility should our infrastructure requirements change over time.”
These investments have sparked concern in some communities. A Meta data center under construction in Newton County, Georgia, has already drawn criticism after local water infrastructure reportedly failed to meet residential demand.
In parallel with infrastructure expansion, Meta is scaling its talent pool. Employee compensation is now the company’s second-largest area of projected cost growth, as it recruits AI researchers and engineers to staff its Superintelligence Labs business unit.
Zuckerberg has outlined a vision of “personal superintelligence,” where Meta’s AI enhances individual experiences, particularly through the company’s virtual and augmented reality devices.
Despite a $4.5 billion loss at its Reality Labs segment, Meta reported strong overall performance. Second-quarter revenue came in at $47.5 billion, with projections of $47.5 billion to $50.5 billion in the third quarter. Advertising continues to drive the business, with AI-powered tools helping advertisers tailor campaigns through automated translation, video generation, and audience targeting.
Meta shares jumped 10% in after-hours trading following the report, buoyed by the robust earnings and forward-looking investment plans.
