During this week’s Meta earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg emphasized the company’s commitment to artificial intelligence (AI), mentioning the term no less than 27 times in his presentation and responses to questions. By underscoring AI’s importance, Zuckerberg sought to assure investors of Meta’s participation in the ongoing AI arms race in the tech industry.
AI as a “Key Theme” for Meta
Zuckerberg described AI as a “key theme” for Meta, impacting all of the company’s apps and services. He cited Instagram’s 24% increase in user engagement following the introduction of AI-powered Reels. The CEO envisions AI agents providing meaningful and useful interactions for billions of users.
He also hinted at the possibility of Meta’s large language model, LLaMA, becoming available to more users in the future. Meta granted access to LLaMA for some researchers in February, and Zuckerberg expressed the company’s aspirations to make AI technology even more open.
Despite the focus on AI, Zuckerberg dismissed the notion that Meta was shifting away from its metaverse plans, stating, “We’ve been focusing on both AI and the metaverse for years now, and we will continue to focus on both.”
AI’s growing presence in tech companies
Meta is not alone in highlighting AI’s role in its operations. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella referenced AI and the company’s partnership with OpenAI 29 times in his opening comments, while Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai mentioned AI 33 times in his introductory statements.
Meta’s head of infrastructure, Santosh Janardhan, reportedly warned the company last year about a “significant gap” in AI adoption across its platforms. AI systems demand more computing power due to extensive data processing and training requirements. The high cost of computing power and servers for AI initiatives has prompted Meta to allocate between $30 billion and $33 billion for 2023 to support its AI capacity expansion.
Meta’s stock experienced a 14% surge following the earnings call, as the company exceeded Wall Street’s expectations.
