Meta's $95 Billion Raise: Funding an AI Buildout at Record Scale

Meta said Monday it will raise $95 billion to fund investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure and superintelligence, with the company's stock falling 1.6% in morning trading after the announcement. The plan includes $35 billion in underwritten public equity offerings, followed by an additional $60 billion through an at-the-market program. Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom have expressed interest in purchasing up to $5 billion in shares, Meta said in a statement.

The fundraising comes as Goldman Sachs estimates AI-related capital spending could total about $7.6 trillion from 2026 through 2031 across compute, data centers and power. Meta said the capital will support emerging AI opportunities across its family of apps, its AI agent Muse and its data center business. The company plans to balance funding for these investments through a mix of operating cash flow, investment-grade debt, partnerships and equity capital.

Meta's third-quarter results, reported last week, showed revenue rose 26% year over year to $64.60 billion, exceeding the $63.37 billion analysts expected. Investors focused instead on negative free cash flow and a higher full-year capital expenditure forecast. Meta now expects capital spending to range from $135 billion to $145 billion, up from a prior floor of $130 billion, sending shares lower Thursday.

The company is building four superclusters with more than 1 gigawatt of capacity each and is on track to nearly double total infrastructure capacity in 2026 from a year earlier, Meta said. Ben Wood, senior partner at CCS Insight, said the decision to raise more capital "reflects the eye-watering levels of investment required to keep up in the AI arms race." He added that Meta's offering comes as numerous companies, including Google, SpaceX and Anthropic, turn to markets for funding.

Alphabet said in June it would look to raise $85 billion. SpaceX closed a $40 billion debt financing for graphics processing units, and Anthropic is preparing an initial public offering. TikTok U.S. is seeking multiple gigawatts of computing capacity over the coming years, CNBC reported Friday.

Meta is among the major hyperscalers increasingly tapping debt to fund the infrastructure required for AI.