Mark Zuckerberg has announced that Meta will spend hundreds of billions of dollars on developing artificial intelligence products, with plans for massive data centers across the globe. The parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp aims to create “super-intelligence” machines that can outthink humans in many tasks.
Meta’s first multi-gigawatt data center, Prometheus, is set to come online in 2026, followed by another, Hyperion, which will be able to scale up to 5 gigawatts. The company plans to build multiple more data centers, covering a significant part of Manhattan’s footprint.
Zuckerberg cited a report from industry publication SemiAnalysis that Meta is on track to become the first AI lab to bring a gigawatt-plus supercluster online. He justified the massive spending by highlighting the strength in the company’s core advertising business, which has already seen a boost from AI-powered ad tools.
The move comes after setbacks for Meta’s open-source Llama 4 model and key staff departures. The company is reorganizing its AI efforts under Superintelligence Labs, aiming to generate new cash flows from the Meta AI app, image-to-video ad tools, and smart glasses.
Analysts believe that investing in AI will help Meta stay ahead of rivals OpenAI and Google. With a $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI, former CEO Alexandr Wang and ex-GitHub chief Nat Friedman are leading the charge for Superintelligence Labs.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jul/16/zuckerberg-meta-data-center-ai-manhattan