Meta’s AI Spending: Another Bubble?

Right. So, everyone’s terribly excited about Meta. Apparently, Mark Zuckerberg has decided to just…keep spending. On AI. As if throwing money at a problem solves anything. It’s all a bit much, isn’t it? Like deciding you’ll become a marathon runner and immediately buying all the gear, then just…not running.

For ages, the market was rewarding these tech giants – the “Magnificent Seven,” as they’re so grandly called – for announcing plans to spend on artificial intelligence. It was all very hopeful. The idea being, presumably, that they wouldn’t splash out unless they thought it would actually

make

money. A novel concept, I know.

But then, a few months ago, people started to wonder if it would actually work. Shocker. Suddenly, spending wasn’t so clever, especially when it involved borrowing money. Honestly, the naiveté.

But then Meta reported its earnings. And everyone just…forgot about all that. Zuckerberg announced he’s not slowing down the spending. Not slowing down! It’s like a slightly frantic shopper in a sale.

Units of AI Infrastructure Purchased: Countless. Hours Spent Explaining It To My Mother: 3. Number of Times I’ve Said “It’s Complicated”: 17.

Apparently, the results were “blowout.” Earnings were well above what people expected, revenue was up, and the future looks…bright? They say. It’s mostly advertising, you see. They’ve used all this AI to make the ads better. Which, let’s be honest, is a bit terrifying. More effective ads. Just what we needed.

They’ve doubled the number of these “GPUs” – whatever those are – to train the ad-ranking model. The purpose? To show you ads you’re more likely to click on. It’s like they’re actively trying to manipulate us. And succeeding, probably. They also have an AI assistant to help companies improve their ads. It’s all very…efficient.

And then there’s the video generation tools. Apparently, they’re making a fortune. A “run rate” of $10 billion. It’s all very impressive. But is it

sustainable

? That’s the question, isn’t it?

They’re planning to spend between $115 billion and $135 billion this year on AI. Which is…a lot. They spent just over $72 billion last year. It’s like a runaway train.

Zuckerberg said they’ll continue to invest “significantly” in infrastructure to deliver “personal super intelligence.” Super intelligence. Honestly, it sounds like a science fiction film. And not a particularly optimistic one. They have this “Superintelligence Labs” division. The goal? To build AI that’s better than humans. Terrifying.

How to approach Meta stock? Well, the market has given Zuckerberg the green light. But only recently. The stock is only up about 8% over the past year. Which, let’s be honest, isn’t exactly a roaring success.

The problem is, Zuckerberg has a history of jumping the gun. He’s been right a lot, yes. But he’s also been wrong. Remember the metaverse? That was supposed to be the future. A virtual world. They even changed their name to reflect it.

It’s been a flop. A spectacular, multi-billion dollar flop. They’ve lost over $6 billion on Reality Labs. And $80 billion since 2020. Investors should reward AI spending that boosts the ad business. But they should keep a very close eye on Zuckerberg if he starts throwing money at things that don’t seem likely to work.

Things I’m Worried About: Zuckerberg’s Enthusiasm. The Metaverse. The Potential for AI to Take Over the World.

It’s all a bit…much, isn’t it? I’m going to need a very large glass of wine. And possibly a new career.

2026-02-04 17:12

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