Meta plans to lease AI computing power, and Zuckerberg claims strong demand
Meta is planning a cloud infrastructure business called "Meta Compute," aiming to lease AI computing power and model access to external parties. This move is intended to convert substantial AI capital expenditures into revenue-generating assets, addressing investor concerns about the return on high spending. Zuckerberg stated that market demand is strong, and this initiative could open new monetization channels, triggering a strong reaction in the capital markets, with Meta's stock price soaring and competitors' stock prices falling
Meta Platforms is planning a brand new cloud infrastructure business, aiming to rent out AI computing power and model access to external customers, which is expected to open up new monetization channels for its massive AI capital expenditures.
According to insiders, the internal initiative named "Meta Compute" is set to adopt two service models: one is to provide developers with access to AI models hosted on Meta's infrastructure; the other is to directly rent out "raw computing power," competing with emerging AI cloud service providers like CoreWeave. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that the opportunity to develop cloud business "has always existed," and noted that the current market bids for computing power are very high, indicating that in some cases, renting out externally may be more valuable than keeping it for internal use.
However, Zuckerberg emphasized that this does not mean the company has idle computing power. He mentioned that he does not know of anyone in the industry who feels they have excess computing power, and that Meta is currently utilizing all available computing resources. Market analysts believe that Meta's move does not acknowledge excess computing power, but rather transforms GPU clusters from a "pure cost burden" into "revenue-generating assets," in response to investor concerns about the return on capital expenditures that could reach up to $125 billion to $145 billion annually.
Meta's entry into the cloud business has triggered a chain reaction in the capital markets. On the day the news broke, Meta's stock price surged over 10%, while independent computing rental companies like CoreWeave saw significant declines in their stock prices. Analysts pointed out that SpaceX's previous practice of renting out data center computing power at high prices to Anthropic and Google has provided a successful model for this approach, and similar transactions are expected to bring Meta incremental revenues of billions of dollars annually
