META's stock price has jumped about 12% after reports that Meta is developing a cloud infrastructure business to sell access to excess artificial intelligence computing capacity.
At press time, Meta was trading at $618.33, up 9.77%, giving the company a market capitalization of about $1.57 trillion.
The planned business could allow outside customers to use Meta’s spare computing power or access AI models hosted on its infrastructure. The plans are still in development, and the final structure could change.
Meta Plans AI Cloud Business
Meta is building a cloud business that could sell excess AI computing capacity to outside customers. The internal effort is reportedly called Meta Compute.
The company is weighing two main options. One path would offer developers access to AI models hosted on Meta’s infrastructure. Another path would sell raw AI compute capacity to customers that need graphics processing power for AI workloads.
The model-access option would place Meta closer to cloud services that let developers use hosted AI models. The raw compute option would put Meta closer to neocloud providers that rent AI infrastructure to companies with high computing demand.
Meta declined to comment on the report. The company has not announced pricing, launch timing, customer targets, or whether the service will be offered broadly.
Investors Watch Return on AI Spending
The move drew attention because Meta has committed large sums to AI infrastructure. The company told investors in April that it planned to spend as much as $145 billion on capital expenditure this year, largely for data centers and AI chips.
Some investors had questioned whether Meta could earn enough return from that spending. A cloud business could help the company generate revenue from capacity it does not need for its own AI models and services.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had already signaled that a cloud move was possible. At the company’s shareholder meeting in May, he said entering cloud computing was “definitely on the table.”
He also said that if Meta reaches a point where it has overbuilt AI infrastructure, selling access to that capacity would be an option. The latest report suggests the company is now developing that idea into a business line.
CoreWeave and Nebius Shares Fall
Meta’s possible cloud entry pressured neocloud stocks. CoreWeave and Nebius fell about 13% each as traders weighed the risk that Meta could compete for AI infrastructure customers.
The concern is sharper for neocloud firms because they depend on fast-growing AI compute demand. Some also rely on large technology companies as customers, making Meta’s move important for the sector, especially after its 8000 job cut earlier in the year.
D.A. Davidson Managing Director Gil Luria said the move may affect neoclouds more than the largest cloud firms. He said, “The impact of adding Meta’s capacity to the market is more likely to be on neoclouds than the big hyperscalers.”
He added that companies such as CoreWeave and Nebius rely on Meta for growth and that Meta may not need them in the same way if it sells its own capacity.
