Meta is significantly increasing its capital expenditure for 2026, according to a report by TechCrunch, as the social media giant ramps up its infrastructure to compete in the global AI arms and hardware race.
The company's updated projections suggest a spending range between $125 billion and $145 billion for the year. This figure exceeds both previous company estimates and analyst expectations.
During an investor call on Wednesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg attributed the rising costs to the price of hardware components.
“We are increasing our infrastructure capex forecast for this year,” Zuckerberg said. “Most of that is due to higher component costs, particularly memory pricing […]. We are very focused on increasing the efficiency of our investments.”
Heavy losses in Reality Labs continue
While the company pivots toward AI, its Reality Labs division—which handles AR/VR headsets and software—continues to report massive quarterly deficits. TechCrunch reported that the division lost $4 billion in the most recent quarter.
Data from the last 21 quarterly earnings reports shows a consistent pattern of high-cost experimentation. Since 2021, Meta has lost a total of $83.5 billion on Reality Labs, averaging roughly $4 billion in losses every three months.
Despite these heavy losses in the metaverse sector, Meta's core business remains highly profitable. The company posted a net income of $26.8 billion in the first quarter of 2026, representing a 61% increase over the previous year.
Revenue for the same period reached $56.3 billion, a 33% year-over-year increase. These profits are currently funding the massive push to keep pace with AI competitors like Anthropic and OpenAI.
