Meta Platforms, Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg indicated that the company might enter the cloud computing market if its heavy spending on data centers results in excess computing capacity. "This is absolutely something we are considering," Zuckerberg stated during Meta's annual general meeting on Wednesday in response to questions about potential competition with Amazon and Microsoft in cloud services. He reiterated comments from last year's earnings call, noting, "Almost every week, different external companies approach us, asking if we can build API services or if they can purchase computing resources from us at a price above our cost." Among the major U.S. hyperscale tech firms, Meta is the only one without a cloud infrastructure and services business, even as its investments in artificial intelligence research and development rival those of its competitors. In April, Meta raised its 2026 AI-related capital expenditure forecast to $125-145 billion from a previous range of $115-135 billion. Despite reporting better-than-expected Q1 earnings, Meta's stock price fell 7%, highlighting market concerns over its substantial AI spending. Zuckerberg reminded Wall Street that Meta has the capability to lease out some of its computing resources. "We haven't done that yet because we believe the computing capacity is useful for us. Of course, if we find ourselves with excess capacity, that is an option we can consider. It's also one reason we are confident in investing to build this technology," he said on Wednesday. Zuckerberg also discussed the company's plans for AI personal assistants, which he briefly outlined during the April earnings call following the launch of Meta's Muse Spark AI model. "The value of people will only become more important, not less, in the future. As people inevitably want more from these agents, we will have the opportunity to charge for advanced or high-compute versions," he said. While Meta offers some AI-related features for businesses on WhatsApp, these services are currently free. Zuckerberg mentioned the company is also working to "establish longer-term monetization models." Additionally, Meta announced on Wednesday that it will begin testing a monthly subscription service for its Meta AI app and website, marking the company's first move to charge users for AI features. The Meta AI subscription plans are priced at $7.99 or $19.99 per month depending on selected features and will initially launch in Singapore, Guatemala, and Bolivia. At last year's shareholder meeting, Zuckerberg suggested that as Meta AI improves, the company might offer "subscription services allowing users to pay for access to more computing resources."
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