Mark Zuckerberg may have just dropped the biggest hint yet that Meta Platforms Inc's (NASDAQ:META) future might not run on ad dollars, but on AI power. Speaking to analysts on Wednesday at their third quarter earnings call, the Meta CEO said, "people keep asking if we can share compute — we haven't done that yet, but it's an option." That single line was enough to set Silicon Valley abuzz.
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If Meta ever flips the switch and opens up its AI infrastructure to outsiders, it wouldn't just be another product pivot — it would rewrite the company's identity.
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From Social Network To Supercomputer
Meta's spending spree on AI hardware has already been staggering. The company expects capex to jump 80% in 2025 and at least 50% in 2026, pushing past the $100 billion mark, according to JPMorgan estimates. That's not ad-tech spending — that's infrastructure building on a hyperscaler scale.
Zuckerberg has described Meta's AI buildout as "aggressive," but there's growing evidence that it may be too aggressive for internal use alone.
"We keep building more aggressive infrastructure — and then we run out," he said. In other words, Meta might soon have more compute than it needs — and plenty to rent.
Meta's Cloud Moment
If Meta were to monetize its compute surplus, it would instantly enter the same arena as Amazon.com Inc‘s (NASDAQ:AMZN) Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Corp’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Azure, and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) Google Cloud — a $600 billion market dominated by the very companies it competes with in AI.
And unlike most new entrants, the Facebook parent company wouldn't be starting from scratch. Its in-house AI models (Llama) and sprawling data center footprint give it the building blocks of a credible AI cloud business.
The move could also unlock a new revenue stream insulated from ad cycles — something Wall Street has long wanted from Meta.
Meta's next growth story might not come from social media, but from supercomputing. If Zuckerberg follows through on his "share compute" tease, Meta could become the fourth major hyperscaler — and the firstborn out of social media.
That would mark a new era not just for Meta, but for how AI infrastructure itself gets monetized.
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