From Fortune · Joshua Hong · · 2m
Meta's $145 billion spending plan rivals military budgets
Meta plans to spend $145 billion in capital expenditure in 2026, more than every country's military budget except the U.S., China and Russia.
In brief
Meta plans to spend $145 billion in capital expenditure in 2026, more than every country's military budget except the U.S., China and Russia. Meta will spend $145 billion on capital expenditure in 2026, doubling its prior year spending as it invests heavily in AI infrastructure and computing capacity. Originally…
Meta's spending doubles in one year
Meta plans to spend up to $145 billion in capital expenditure in 2026, a roughly 101 percent jump from the $72.2 billion it spent in 2025. Higher component prices and additional data center costs are driving the increase.
AI is the major driver
CEO Mark Zuckerberg says AI will be a significant portion of the spending. The increase is tied to the company's computing infrastructure and cloud agreements needed to support AI usage across Meta's products and businesses.
“As AI usage in our products and businesses continues to ramp, we continue to invest aggressively in infrastructure to meet the demand.”
Zuckerberg calls 2026 pivotal for superintelligence
Zuckerberg described 2026 as a pivotal year for Meta's effort to build what he calls a superintelligence. He says AI investments are accelerating every major part of the core business and improving experiences for users and advertisers.
“The opportunity in front of us is massive.”
Meta eyes new enterprise opportunities
Zuckerberg says Meta is developing personal agents that will be the foundation for new products and revenue lines. The company sees a large enterprise opportunity to sell to businesses, including APIs, business agents, and potentially selling compute directly.
“We see a large enterprise opportunity to sell to businesses, including APIs, business agents, potentially selling compute directly, and other services.”
Spending exceeds most military budgets
Meta's $145 billion capex puts it above every country's military budget from 2025 except the United States at $954 billion, China at an estimated $336 billion, and Russia at an estimated $190 billion. Germany spends $113 billion and India $92 billion.
Tech giants accelerating AI infrastructure spending
Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft are on track to spend about $730 billion on AI in 2026, up from previous estimates of $600 billion. Meta's total expenses in 2026 are projected to reach up to $169 billion, reflecting higher compensation and recruitment of AI talent.
The essence
Meta will spend $145 billion on capital expenditure in 2026, doubling its prior year spending as it invests heavily in AI infrastructure and computing capacity.
