Mark Zuckerberg announces that Meta is introducing a new initiative focused on developing its own AI infrastructure

Meta Unveils Major AI Infrastructure Expansion

Last year, Meta revealed ambitious plans to significantly increase its investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure. During a summer earnings call, CFO Susan Li emphasized that building advanced AI systems would be central to Meta’s strategy for developing top-tier AI models and user experiences.

Meta is now taking concrete steps toward these goals. On Monday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced Meta Compute, a new program aimed at strengthening the company’s AI capabilities. Zuckerberg highlighted Meta’s intention to dramatically scale up its energy usage in the coming years to support this growth.

According to Zuckerberg, “Meta intends to construct tens of gigawatts of capacity this decade, with the potential to reach hundreds of gigawatts in the future. The way we design, invest in, and collaborate on this infrastructure will set us apart strategically.”

To put this in perspective, one gigawatt equals one billion watts of electrical power. The rapid expansion of AI technologies is expected to drive a sharp increase in U.S. electricity demand, with some estimates suggesting a rise from 5 GW to 50 GW by 2030.

Leadership Team for Meta Compute

• Santosh Janardhan: As Meta’s global infrastructure chief since 2009, Janardhan will oversee technical architecture, software development, silicon initiatives, developer efficiency, and the management of Meta’s worldwide data centers and networks.
• Daniel Gross: A recent addition to Meta and co-founder of Safe Superintelligence, Gross will lead a new division focused on long-term capacity planning, supplier relationships, industry research, and business modeling.
• Dina Powell McCormick: Recently appointed as Meta’s president and vice chairman, Powell McCormick will work with government entities to support the construction, deployment, investment, and financing of Meta’s infrastructure projects.

Industry Context and Competitive Landscape

The race to develop AI-ready cloud infrastructure is intensifying across the tech sector. Capital expenditure forecasts released last year indicate that other major players are pursuing similar objectives. Microsoft, for example, has been actively forming partnerships with AI infrastructure firms, while Alphabet, Google’s parent company, recently acquired the data center company Intersect to address energy grid challenges. TechCrunch has contacted Meta for additional details about the Meta Compute initiative.

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