On February 19, 2026, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg left federal court in downtown Los Angeles after defending the company in a landmark social media addiction trial.
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meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company could enter the cloud computing market if it overspends on data centers and has excess capacity.
“That’s definitely something that’s on the table,” Zuckerberg said Wednesday at Meta’s annual shareholder meeting in response to a question about the possibility of competing with Meta. Amazon and microsoft In cloud computing.
Echoing comments from last year’s earnings call, Zuckerberg said, “Almost every week, we have different companies coming to us from the outside and asking us to launch an API service or asking if we have compute that they can buy at some premium to what we’re paying for it.”
Of the four large hyperscalers in the US, Meta is the only one without a cloud infrastructure and services business. Meanwhile, Meta’s spending to accelerate artificial intelligence development is comparable to its rivals.
In April, Meta raised its 2026 forecast for AI-related capital investment to $125 billion to $145 billion, from the previous $115 billion to $135 billion. Meta shares fell 7% despite the company’s better-than-expected first-quarter profit, highlighting concerns about the company’s massive AI spending.
Mr. Zuckerberg is reminding Wall Street that his company has the ability to lend out some of its computing resources.
“We haven’t done it yet because we think there are uses for computing,” Zuckerberg said Wednesday. “Obviously, if we get to a point where we feel like we’re overbuilding, that’s an option we have, and that’s, in part, what gives us the confidence to invest in building this.”
Zuckerberg also touched on the company’s plans for an AI-powered personal assistant, which he briefly detailed in an April earnings call after the debut of Meta’s Muse Spark AI model.
“Talent will become more important, not less, in the future. People will inevitably want to get more out of these agents, so there will be an opportunity to charge for premium or high-computing versions,” Zuckerberg said.
Meta offers some AI-related features to businesses on WhatsApp, but those services are currently free. Zuckerberg said the company is also working to “establish a long-term monetization model.”
Separately on Wednesday, Meta said it would begin testing a monthly subscription service for the Meta AI app and website, marking the first time the company would charge users for AI features. Meta AI subscription plans cost $7.99 or $19.99 per month depending on specific features and will initially be available in Singapore, Guatemala, and Bolivia.
Zuckerberg said at a shareholder meeting last year that improved MetaAI could allow the company to offer “a subscription service where people can pay to get more computing power.”
WATCH: Meta reshapes the workforce as AI disrupts entry-level hiring.
