Tech giants Microsoft and Meta have reaffirmed their aggressive spending plans on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, despite concerns over the competitiveness of a new Chinese start-up called DeepSeek.
The companies, which are expected to invest nearly $150 billion in AI-related projects this year, posted healthy growth in their AI businesses in the last three months of 2024. Microsoft’s AI revenue run rate hit $13 billion in the quarter, while Meta’s quarterly revenue and earnings both surpassed analysts’ expectations.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella downplayed concerns about DeepSeek’s efficiency, saying that the company has seen significant efficiency gains in its own AI training and inference processes over the years. He also expressed confidence in the potential of DeepSeek to improve his firm’s infrastructure and services.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended his company’s massive AI investments, which could total $65 billion this year, saying they would be a strategic advantage in the long run.
Meanwhile, Japanese tech investor Softbank is reportedly in talks to invest up to $25 billion in OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. This move would make Softbank its largest investor and further solidify its commitment to AI research and development.
Source: https://www.investopedia.com/what-we-learned-ai-microsoft-meta-ibm-earnings-deepseek-8783170