Meta to create a new class of shares to fund AI push

Meta says it’s issuing a new class of shares to fund its AI initiatives. As part of its third-quarter earnings report released on Wednesday, the company says the non-voting stock will also go toward potential acquisitions and employee compensation, with trading beginning in 2027.

“The scale of investment required to compete, sustain growth, expand infrastructure, and pursue new strategic initiatives amidst the AI transformation taking place in the industry is significant,” Meta says in the press release. Susan Li, Meta’s chief financial officer, added during an earnings call that the new class of shares will “expand our funding tools and give us flexibility to invest behind the unprecedented momentum we’re seeing across every part of our business driven by AI.”

Meta has poured billions of dollars into the AI race as it builds (and promotes) sprawling data centers, poaches top talent from other companies like OpenAI, and builds AI models capable of rivaling those from other tech giants. The company expects capital expenditures between $135 billion and $145 billion this year, up from the previous $130 billion and $145 billion estimate.

It’s been a busy past few weeks for Meta, which launched its AI agent, Muse, in September. Like other AI agents, Muse can do things like clean out your email inbox, book restaurant reservations, and plan trips. The Muse app shot to the top of app stores shortly after its rollout, and hit 10 million downloads in the US this week. Meta also rolled out its Muse Wonder model this week.

Muse’s launch hasn’t come without some snags. Amid concerns about user privacy, a tech YouTuber reported that the agent gave out his address to a stranger on Facebook Marketplace. The company has also had to pause Muse’s conversation-sharing feature after researchers discovered chats publicly available on the web.