Meta's 2026 AI Spending Plan Hits $145 Billion, Larger Than Every Military Budget Except the U.S., China and Russia

Meta Platforms is set to spend between $130 billion and $145 billion on capital expenditures in 2026, according to the company's Q2 2026 earnings report released July 29. That's a roughly 101% jump from the $72.2 billion Meta spent in 2025, and it puts the company's AI infrastructure bill above every country's 2025 military budget except the United States, China and Russia, according to figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

For scale: the U.S. spent $954 billion on defense in 2025. China spent an estimated $336 billion. Russia spent an estimated $190 billion. Germany, at fourth place globally, spent $113 billion. Meta's AI spending this year alone tops that.

This is Meta's own capital, generated from its advertising business, not a government appropriation. A private company betting $145 billion of shareholder money on a technology race operates differently than a government agency burning through taxpayer dollars with no profit motive attached.

The Numbers Behind the Bet

Meta's capex has climbed fast: $28.1 billion in 2023, $39.23 billion in 2024, $72.22 billion in 2025, according to SEC filings cited by both Fortune and Press Bee. The 2025 figure already blew past Meta's own original forecast of up to $65 billion.

Q2 2026 alone saw $31.1 billion in capital expenditures, according to 24/7 Wall St., which noted that single quarter approached half of all of 2025's spending. CFO Susan Li told investors Meta is "demand constrained today," meaning the company says it could put even more compute to profitable use if it had it.

To fund the buildout, Meta ended Q2 2026 with $90.3 billion in cash and marketable securities against $83.7 billion in debt, per 24/7 Wall St. The company also announced a joint venture with BlackRock to build a one-gigawatt data center in El Paso, Texas.

Zuckerberg has framed 2026 as a pivotal year for what he calls building "superintelligence." "As AI usage in our products and businesses continues to ramp, we continue to invest aggressively in infrastructure to meet the demand," he told investors on the Q2 earnings call, adding that AI will be a "significant portion" of the total spend. Reuters reported the increase is tied to computing infrastructure and cloud agreements.

The Business Case Meta Is Making

Meta isn't just burning cash. Q2 2026 revenue hit $60.8 billion, up 27.96% year over year and above the $60.286 billion Wall Street consensus, according to 24/7 Wall St. Advertising revenue rose 27% to $59.4 billion. More than 1 million businesses now use Meta's Business Agents weekly, and the company's Advantage+ ad tools have crossed a $75 billion annual revenue run rate.

A Seeking Alpha analysis initiated Meta with a strong buy rating and an $811.20 price target, arguing the company's unmatched dataset on human behavior gives it a durable edge in AI-driven ad targeting. That's one analyst's opinion, not a guarantee, and Seeking Alpha's own disclosure notes the author holds no position in the stock.

The Case for Caution

Skeptics point to a real concern: Meta's stock is still down 11.95% over the past year, according to 24/7 Wall St., even as capex guidance has climbed repeatedly. Total 2026 expenses, including compensation and recruitment for AI talent, are projected to reach up to $169 billion, according to Reuters. That's a lot of cash flow tied up in servers and data centers that may or may not generate returns on the timeline management expects.

Anthropic and other frontier labs are reportedly racing toward 10 gigawatts of compute by 2027, per 24/7 Wall St., meaning Meta isn't spending in a vacuum. If the AI arms race doesn't pay off the way Zuckerberg is promising, shareholders are the ones holding the bag, not the public.

Shares closed at $680.85 on September 18, 2026, up 25.23% over the prior month, according to 24/7 Wall St. Meta's next earnings report will show whether Q3 capex actuals track the guidance, and whether the BlackRock-backed data center buildout in Texas stays on schedule. Investors and Meta's board will be watching debt levels closely if the payoff from this spending doesn't show up in the numbers soon.