Meta has announced its intention to raise $95 billion to support investments in AI infrastructure and efforts to build "superintelligence." The announcement comes amid record capital spending by hyperscalers on computing power, data centers, and energy. According to Goldman Sachs estimates, AI-related capital expenditure in these segments could reach approximately $7.6 trillion between 2026 and 2031. The market responded to the news with a slight decline, while NVIDIA, AMD, and Broadcom expressed interest in purchasing up to $5 billion worth of the company's securities, reports CNBC.
Placement Mechanics: $35 Billion via Underwriters and $60 Billion on the Open Market
The offering is divided into two stages. In the first, the IT giant intends to raise $35 billion through underwritten public equity offerings. Another $60 billion the company expects to raise through an open-market offering program at prevailing market prices. The proceeds, according to the company, will support "new AI capabilities," including Meta's family of apps, the Muse AI agent, and data center-related business. Overall, funding for the AI division is planned through operating cash flows, investment-grade debt, partnerships, and equity capital.
Q3 Report: Revenue Exceeds Expectations, But CapEx Forecast Raised
The offering announcement coincided with the publication of third-quarter financial results. The company's revenue grew by 26% year-on-year to $64.60 billion, against market expectations of $63.37 billion. Nevertheless, investors paid more attention to the negative free cash flow and the increase in the annual capital expenditure forecast. Meta now expects annual CapEx to be $135–145 billion, whereas previously it was $130 billion (with some sources citing $115–135 billion). According to the hyperscaler's own data, the company is building four superclusters with a capacity of over 1 GW each and intends to nearly double its infrastructure capacity in 2026 compared to the previous year.
The AI Race and Capital Market Entries of Other Giants
The decision to raise new funds reflects the massive scale of investment required to participate in the AI race and fits into a general trend: hyperscalers are increasingly borrowing money to build expensive infrastructure. Other major players are also hitting the capital markets — Alphabet intends to raise $85 billion in June, SpaceX closed a $40 billion funding round, and Anthropic has filed for an IPO. Furthermore, in the coming years, TikTok's US division plans to secure several gigawatts of computing power.
Expert Estimates: Risks for 'Non-Cloud' Businesses
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk predicted that funding for "non-cloud" businesses will dry up, and Gartner previously reported that most of them will not survive the coming years as independent business entities. Against this backdrop, Meta's massive entry into the capital market with a record sum of $95 billion becomes an indicator that the fight for AI infrastructure is entering a phase where access to long-term capital, rather than just operating profit, is the key resource.
