Meta Platforms Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg will ramp up heavy investments in AI and other futuristic technologies, continuing a years-long tug-of-war between the company’s long-term bets and the core advertising business that provides the vast majority of Meta’s revenue.
Zuckerberg warned investors Wednesday that Meta will continue to spend significantly on infrastructure and other projects like the metaverse and AI-powered glasses, efforts he believes are core to the company’s future. That will be supported by the ads business, which isn’t generating the kind of momentum Wall Street expected.
Shares fell more than 4% in premarket trading on Thursday before New York exchanges opened. The stock had closed 0.25% lower at $591.80 on Wednesday.
“We’re seeing AI have a positive impact on nearly all aspects of our work, from our core businesses to new services and computing platforms,” the Meta chief executive officer said during its third quarter earnings call. “There are lots of opportunities to use new AI advances to accelerate our core business.”
Meta cautioned that losses from Reality Labs, its division focused on artificial intelligence and augmented reality, will continue to widen “meaningfully” this year, adding that the 2025 budget is still being finalized. Reality Labs reported a $4.4 billion operating loss in the quarter.
With costs projected to reach nearly $100 billion this year, Meta is putting pressure on its core advertising business to fund the effort. Meta told investors Wednesday that revenue for the current quarter would be between $45 billion and $48 billion. Analysts were expecting fourth-quarter revenue of $46 billion.
Zuckerberg has worked to re-frame the social media company as an AI innovator in recent years, changing investor perception of Meta’s potential growth. Meta has developed several key AI products as part of that pivot, including large language models used to power chatbots, an assistant built into its various social apps, and AI-powered smart glasses. Meta is already working on the next version of Llama, the large language model that powers its AI products and services, and Zuckerberg said Llama 4 will be faster, more powerful and more cost-effective than previous models.
