Meta Plans to Invest $60 bn or More in AI this Year

A photograph taken during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 19, 2025, shows the logo of Meta, the US company that owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)
A photograph taken during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 19, 2025, shows the logo of Meta, the US company that owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)
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Meta Plans to Invest $60 bn or More in AI this Year

A photograph taken during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 19, 2025, shows the logo of Meta, the US company that owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)
A photograph taken during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on January 19, 2025, shows the logo of Meta, the US company that owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg on Friday said the tech giant plans to invest at least $60 billion in artificial intelligence in 2025, aiming to lead in the technology.
"This will be a defining year for AI," Zuckerberg said in a post on his Facebook page.

Zuckerberg expects Meta AI to be the top digital assistant, used by more than a billion people, and for the tech firm's Llama 4 to be at the forefront of AI models, according to the post.

Meta is creating an AI "engineer" to contribute computer coding to its research and development efforts, he explained.

Meta will construct a massive new datacenter to power its AI ambitions and is planning $60 billion to $65 billion in capital expenditures this year related to the technology, according to Zuckerberg, AFP reported.

"This is a massive effort, and over the coming years it will drive our core products and business, unlock historic innovation, and extend American technology leadership," he said.

The post comes just days after US President Donald Trump announced a major investment to build infrastructure for artificial intelligence led by Japanese giant SoftBank and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.

Trump said the venture, called Stargate, "will invest $500 billion, at least, in AI infrastructure in the United States."

But in a post on his social media platform X, Trump ally and tech tycoon Elon Musk said the main investors "don't actually have the money."

The comment marked a rare instance of a split between the world's richest man and Trump, with Musk playing a key role in the newly installed administration after spending $270 million on the election campaign.

Microsoft president Brad Smith, meanwhile, has gone on record saying the company was on pace this fiscal year to invest about $80 billion to build out AI datacenters, train AI models and deploy cloud-based applications around the world.

"The United States is poised to stand at the forefront of this new technology wave, especially if it doubles down on its strengths and effectively partners internationally," Smith said in an online post.



Roblox Launches IP Licensing Platform, Partners with Netflix, Lionsgate

 The Roblox logo is displayed on a screen on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, US, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)
The Roblox logo is displayed on a screen on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, US, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)
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Roblox Launches IP Licensing Platform, Partners with Netflix, Lionsgate

 The Roblox logo is displayed on a screen on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, US, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)
The Roblox logo is displayed on a screen on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, US, July 15, 2025. (Reuters)

Roblox launched a licensing feature on its videogame platform on Tuesday, allowing intellectual property holders to integrate their characters and worlds into its games.

It has signed licensing partnerships with companies such as Netflix, which would allow developers to use characters and names from the streaming giant's popular shows "Stranger Things" and "Squid Game" in their games.

Other licensing partners include Lionsgate, Sega and Japanese publisher Kodansha.

Roblox has been aggressively trying to grab a larger share of the videogame market and expand its revenue sources by diversifying beyond gaming and turning the platform into a hub for socializing, commerce and advertising.

Introducing a platform for licensing property with popular characters and names from highly recognizable media could draw more people to its games, which appeal to a large cohort of Gen Z users.

"We have a goal to have 10% of all gaming content revenue flowing through the Roblox ecosystem and benefiting our community," said Manuel Bronstein, chief product officer at Roblox.

"This will require having a wide range of experiences and giving creators the opportunity to partner with rights holders of the most recognizable IP," he said.

Roblox had previously worked with media companies such as Warner Bros Discovery, launching special advertising campaigns and games around a specific property to drive consumer engagement.

The License Manager would enable rights holders to register and create licenses, offering them quickly to creators in days or hours rather than months, Roblox said.

The company also plans to onboard more IP holders throughout the year and aims to open the License Manager to all eligible IP holders in the coming months. It is even exploring additional license types.