Meta to share AI infrastructure costs via $2 billion asset sale
The strategy reflects a broader shift among tech giants — long known for self-funding growth — as they grapple with the soaring cost of building and powering data centers to support generative AI.
The social media giant said earlier this week that it was exploring ways to work with financial partners to co-develop data centers to help finance its massive capital outlay for next year.
'We're exploring ways to work with financial partners to co-develop data centers,' Meta Chief Finance Officer Susan Li said on a post-earnings conference call on Wednesday.
While the company still expects to fund much of its capital spending internally, some projects could attract 'significant external financing' and offer more flexibility if infrastructure needs shift over time, Li said.
The company did not have any finalized transactions to announce, she said.
The disclosure in Meta's quarterly filing, however, signals that plans are firming up.
In its quarterly filing on Thursday, Meta said it had approved a plan in June to dispose of certain data center assets and reclassified $2.04 billion worth of land and construction-in-progress as "held-for-sale".
These assets were expected to be contributed to a third party within the next twelve months for co-developing data centers.
Meta did not record a loss on the reclassification, which values the assets at the lower of their carrying amounts or fair value less costs to sell. As of June 30, total held-for-sale assets stood at $3.26 billion, according to the filing.
Meta declined to comment for this story.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has laid out plans to invest hundreds of billions of dollars into constructing AI data center 'superclusters' for superintelligence.
'Just one of these covers a significant part of the footprint of Manhattan,' he said.
The Instagram and WhatsApp owner on Wednesday raised the bottom end of its annual capital expenditures forecast by $2 billion, to $66 billion to $72 billion.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Independent Singapore
2 hours ago
- Independent Singapore
'Factories that THINK' — This woman-led AI startup solves factory failures before they even happen
A chips manufacturing workplace (for illustration purposes only) SINGAPORE: Singapore-based startup SixSense is changing semiconductor manufacturing with the help of artificial intelligence. It has recently secured US$8.5 million (S$11.4 million) to grow its vision worldwide. Founded by two women engineers, the company aims to create 'factories that think.' This mission pushes the future of intelligent automation in one of the world's most complex and high-stakes industries. Transforming semiconductor manufacturing with AI At the core of SixSense's mission is what it calls 'intelligent automation,' a data-driven approach to semiconductor production that improves efficiency, reduces errors, and increases control over intricate manufacturing processes. Its artificial intelligence (AI) platform is already helping major industry players like GlobalFoundries and JCET. It aids fabs across Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Israel in detecting problems earlier and boosting output. 'Think of it as a factory that can see, understand, and act in real-time,' said co-founder and CTO Avni Agarwal. 'We're expanding into the U.S. now, where demand for smarter semiconductor manufacturing is growing quickly.' Women engineers at the helm SixSense stands out not only for its innovative technology but also for its leadership. The company was co-founded in 2018 by CEO Akanksha Jagwani and CTO Avni Agarwal. Both bring significant engineering expertise. Jagwani, who has a background in mechanical engineering, leads business strategy and partnerships. Agarwal, an expert in computer engineering, directs the technical vision. Their success comes amid a noticeable funding gap in the VC world. In 2024, startups with only female founders received just 2% of total VC deal value in the U.S., according to Pitchbook. SixSense's achievements showcase what's possible as that gap begins to close. Backed by global investors and gaining momentum The company's latest funding round, led by Peak XV's Surge seed platform and joined by Alpha Intelligence Capital, FEBE Ventures, and others, brings SixSense's total funding to US$12 million. With these newly obtained resources, worldwide growth will be sustained, and its AI-driven platform for semiconductor engineering will be further developed. See also Workers' Party to hold AI workshop for kids at Hougang Capeview As increasing demand continues, SixSense is well-positioned within the chip manufacturing industry. It will have the capacity and the capability to aid manufacturers in sustaining their engineering endeavours, and with trailblazing technology, innovative leaders, and growing investor confidence, SixSense is set to redefine how chips are made all over the world. () => { const trigger = if ('IntersectionObserver' in window && trigger) { const observer = new IntersectionObserver((entries, observer) => { => { if ( { lazyLoader(); // You should define lazyLoader() elsewhere or inline here // Run once } }); }, { rootMargin: '800px', threshold: 0.1 }); } else { // Fallback setTimeout(lazyLoader, 3000); } });
CNA
2 hours ago
- CNA
Mazda forecasts nearly $1 billion profit hit from US tariffs
TOKYO :Mazda Motor said on Tuesday it expects a 145.2 billion yen ($987.02 million) hit to its operating profit this business year due to U.S. import tariffs, as the Japanese automaker rolled out measures to cushion the impact. To soften the blow of the tariffs, the company said it is taking measures including changing shipping routes, increasing output at its plant in the U.S. state of Alabama and adjusting production volumes. The impact of the higher U.S. duties on results this year remained "quite significant," assuming that exports from Japan would face a 15 per cent tariff and those from Mexico 25 per cent, Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Guyton said. Without its countermeasures, the company would be at risk of a 233.5-billion-yen operating profit hit for the year ending March 2026, Guyton told reporters during a briefing. Mazda has been trying to boost sales of its CX-50 crossover sport utility vehicle. The company has a major plant in the Mexican state of Guanajuato from where it exports vehicles to the U.S. It said last week it sold about 210,000 vehicles in the United States over the first half, up 4 per cent from a year earlier. Mazda has forecast a full-year operating profit of ¥50 billion for the year ending March 2026, down sharply from the previous financial year. It had previously withheld guidance due to uncertainty surrounding the U.S. tariffs. ($1 = 147.1100 yen)
CNA
3 hours ago
- CNA
Global M&A hits $2.6 trillion peak year-to-date, boosted by AI and quest for growth
LONDON :Global dealmaking has reached $2.6 trillion, the highest for the first seven months of the year since the 2021 pandemic-era peak, as a quest for growth in corporate boardrooms and the impact of a surge in AI activity has overcome the uncertainty caused by U.S. tariffs. The number of transactions to August 1 is 16 per cent lower than the same time last year, but their value is 28 per cent higher, according to Dealogic data, boosted by U.S. megadeals valued at more than $10 billion. They include Union Pacific Corp's proposed $85 billion acquisition of small rival Norfolk Southern and OpenAI's $40 billion funding round led by Softbank Group. The upsurge will be a relief to bankers who began the year with expectations the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump would lead to a wave of consolidation. Instead, his trade tariffs and geopolitical uncertainty made companies pause until renewed confidence in corporate boardrooms and the U.S. administration's anti-trust agenda changed the mood. "What you're seeing in terms of deal rationale for transactions right now is that it's heavily growth-motivated, and it's increasing," Andre Veissid, EY Global Financial Services Strategy and Transactions Leader, told Reuters. "Whether it's artificial intelligence, the change in the regulatory environment, we see our clients not wanting to be left behind in that race and that's driving activity." Compared with August 2021, when investors, rebounding from pandemic lockdowns drove the value of deals to $3.57 trillion, this year's tally is nearly a $1 trillion, or 27 per cent, lower. Still deal-makers at JP Morgan Chase have said there is more to come, with companies pursuing bigger deals in the second half of the year as executives adapt to volatility. "People have got used to the prevailing uncertainty, or maybe the unpredictability post-U.S. election is just more predictable now," Simon Nicholls, co-head of Slaughter and May Corporate and M&A group, said. Nigel Wellings, Partner at Clifford Chance said the market was moving beyond tariffs. "Boardrooms are seeing the M&A opportunity of a more stable economic environment and positive regulatory signals. But it is not a frothy market." FROM HEALTH TO TECH While the healthcare sector drove M&A in the years after the pandemic, the computer and electronics industry has produced more takeover bids in the U.S. and the United Kingdom in the last two years, according to Dealogic. Artificial intelligence is expected to drive more dealmaking. M&A activity has increased around data centre usage, such as Samsung's $1.7 billion acquisition of Germany's FlaktGroup, a data centre cooling specialist. Palo Alto Networks $25 billion deal for Israeli cybersecurity peer CyberArk was the largest deal in Europe, Middle East and Africa so far this year as rising AI-driven threats push companies to adopt stronger defences. Private equity, which had been sitting on the sidelines, has once again been active, with Sycamore Partners' $10 billion deal to take private Walgreens Boots Alliance and rivalling 4.8 billion pound offers from KKR and Advent for UK scientific instrument maker Spectris.
