What is Meta?: Meta Platforms is a US technology company that owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004 as Facebook, it rebranded in 2021. In 2026 it is spending $115-135 billion on AI infrastructure while planning to cut over 20% of its workforce.Source: Meta Platforms
How much is Meta spending on AI in 2026?: Meta set its 2026 AI capex guidance at $115-135 billion, nearly double the $72 billion it spent in 2025. Spending is focused on data centres and GPU clusters to train and run its Llama model family.Source: Meta Platforms earnings call
How many jobs is Meta cutting in 2026?: Meta is planning layoffs affecting roughly 16,000 employees, more than 20% of its 79,000-strong workforce. The cuts compress labour costs as the company funds its $130 billion AI buildout.Source: ai-jobs-power-money
What is Meta's Llama AI model?: Llama is Meta's family of open-source large language models, released under a permissive licence allowing commercial use. It is the primary vehicle for Meta's AI strategy and is widely used by researchers and companies globally, including in China where Meta's social platforms are banned.Source: Meta AI
How does Meta's AI spending compare to Microsoft and Amazon?: The five largest US technology companies plan to spend $650-690 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026. Meta's $115-135 billion guidance makes it one of the largest individual spenders, comparable to Microsoft and Amazon's cloud buildouts.Source: ai-jobs-power-money

Background

Meta Platforms, founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004 as Facebook, is the parent of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, reaching over 3.3 billion monthly active users. It rebranded in 2021 to signal a metaverse pivot, but that ambition has been overtaken by an AI-first strategy centred on its Llama open-source model family.

In 2026, Meta is executing the largest capital bet in its history: $115-135 billion in AI infrastructure spending, nearly double its 2025 outlay. To fund it, the company is planning to cut roughly 16,000 jobs (over 20% of its workforce), even as Barclays forecasts free cash flow could fall as much as 90% this year.

Meta is the sharpest illustration of Big Tech's central tension: massive AI capital deployment funded by aggressive labour shedding, at a moment when Morgan Stanley argues bubble fears are overblown and the Bank of England warns of growing correction risk. Whether its bet produces returns or accelerates a valuation reckoning remains the defining open question of the AI investment cycle.

Source Material

Meta Platforms — Wikipedia About Meta Meta Platforms — Reuters coverage Meta Platforms — Financial Times Meta Investor Relations

How the World Sees Them

China

Meta's platforms are banned in China, but Llama models are widely downloaded by Chinese researchers and companies. Beijing watches Meta's open-source strategy as both a competitive threat and a source of freely available frontier model weights.

United States

Meta is the dominant US social media company and a core constituent of the Nasdaq AI-driven rally. Its 2026 capex surge is a bellwether for whether Big Tech's AI spending cycle produces economic returns or tips into a correction.

European Union

The EU has levied repeated fines against Meta under GDPR and is scrutinising its AI data-training practices. The $130 billion buildout raises fresh questions about whether EU user data funds American AI infrastructure.

Global labour movement

Meta's plan to cut 16,000 workers while doubling AI spending has become a rallying example for unions and lawmakers arguing that AI gains are captured by capital rather than redistributed to workers displaced by automation.