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Meta plans to invest $60 bn or more in AI this year; adds ads to Threads
Meta plans to invest $60 bn or more in AI this year; adds ads to Threads
by AFP Staff Writers
San Francisco (AFP) Jan 24, 2025

Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg on Friday said the tech giant plans to invest at least $60 billion in artificial intelligence in 2025, aiming to lead in the technology.

"This will be a defining year for AI," Zuckerberg said in a post on his Facebook page.

Zuckerberg expects Meta AI to be the top digital assistant, used by more than a billion people, and for the tech firm's Llama 4 to be at the forefront of AI models, according to the post.

Meta is creating an AI "engineer" to contribute computer coding to its research and development efforts, he explained.

Meta will construct a massive new datacenter to power its AI ambitions and is planning $60 billion to $65 billion in capital expenditures this year related to the technology, according to Zuckerberg.

"This is a massive effort, and over the coming years it will drive our core products and business, unlock historic innovation, and extend American technology leadership," he said.

The post comes just days after US President Donald Trump announced a major investment to build infrastructure for artificial intelligence led by Japanese giant SoftBank and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.

Trump said the venture, called Stargate, "will invest $500 billion, at least, in AI infrastructure in the United States."

But in a post on his social media platform X, Trump ally and tech tycoon Elon Musk said the main investors "don't actually have the money."

The comment marked a rare instance of a split between the world's richest man and Trump, with Musk playing a key role in the newly installed administration after spending $270 million on the election campaign.

Microsoft president Brad Smith, meanwhile, has gone on record saying the company was on pace this fiscal year to invest about $80 billion to build out AI datacenters, train AI models and deploy cloud-based applications around the world.

"The United States is poised to stand at the forefront of this new technology wave, especially if it doubles down on its strengths and effectively partners internationally," Smith said in an online post.

Meta tests ads on Threads, its alternative to X
San Francisco (AFP) Jan 25, 2025 - Facebook parent Meta has begun testing ads on its newest social network Threads, an executive announced Friday, as the company continues to grow its alternative to Elon Musk's X.

Launched in summer 2023, its debut came eight months after Musk's acquisition of Twitter -- now called X -- when changes like paid subscriptions and reduced content moderation were driving away users and advertisers.

The introduction of advertising on Threads was expected, given that Meta derives most of its revenue from ads across its free platforms.

"We're starting a small test for ads on Threads with a handful of brands in the US and Japan," Instagram and Threads chief Adam Mosseri announced Friday.

He said his team would closely monitor feedback to ensure "they feel like Threads posts you'd find relevant and interesting."

The ads come as Meta is facing heightened scrutiny after CEO Mark Zuckerberg ended the company's US fact-checking program -- a key tool in fighting online misinformation -- and relaxed content moderation rules to allow more controversial speech, similar to X's policies.

The decision was widely seen as an attempt to appease President Donald Trump, whose conservative support base has long complained that third-party fact-checking on tech platforms was a way to curtail free speech and censor right-wing content.

"The launch of Threads ads just weeks after Meta's content moderation makeover will raise advertiser eyebrows," Emarketer analyst Jasmine Enberg said, predicting negative reactions from users already skeptical of Meta.

"But the volatility at TikTok is spurring brands to seek alternatives, and Meta isn't going to pass up an opportunity to throw Threads into the mix."

TikTok, the popular China-based video sharing app, faces an uncertain future in the United States.

While a law banning the app took effect January 19 -- over concerns the Chinese government could exploit it to spy on Americans or covertly influence US public opinion -- Trump has suspended its implementation for two and a half months, seeking a solution with Beijing.

Meta claims Threads has 300 million monthly users, though these numbers face scrutiny.

Critics point out that Instagram users are frequently redirected to Threads without explicitly choosing to visit the platform, potentially inflating user statistics.

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