Meta Heats Up AI Competition with Massive Investment, Data Center, and Llama 4 Launch
Meta is intensifying its AI competition by committing billions to development, building a colossal data center, and releasing its cutting-edge Llama 4 model.
In a recent Facebook post, CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined a significant increase in capital expenditure, with Meta earmarking $60-$65 billion for expansion. This marks a substantial surge from the $38-$40 billion projected for its 2024 fiscal year.
Meta expects Meta AI to reach over 1 billion users by 2025, with Llama 4 positioning itself as a leading AI model. The company is also developing an AI engineer to contribute to research and development.
Meta's expansion plans include a 2-gigawatt data center in Louisiana, a colossal facility covering a significant portion of Manhattan. This center is slated to have 1 gigawatt operational by 2025, ultimately powering AI development with 1.3 million GPUs.
Meta faces stiff competition from Silicon Valley rivals, particularly in developing AI models. However, the company's Llama models remain open source, enabling developers to access and modify the software.
Despite Meta's advancements, competitors are not resting. Microsoft (MSFT) and OpenAI continue to release AI updates, including Operator AI. Additionally, Oracle (ORCL), OpenAI, and SoftBank have partnered on the Stargate Project, a $500 billion initiative to establish AI data centers across the US.
Google (GOOG, GOOGL) and Amazon (AMZN) are also expanding their AI platforms and investing heavily in Anthropic, an OpenAI rival. Google recently pledged an additional $1 billion investment in Anthropic, building on its $2 billion stake.