Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing internal sources, that Meta has started building an in-house cloud services unit to sell unused compute capacity that it currently uses for artificial intelligence workloads. The news pushed Meta's shares up about 7 percent in premarket trading, with some reports specifying a 7.1 percent rise.
What Meta may offer
According to the report, Meta could create a platform that gives partners access to infrastructure for running the company's AI models or allows them to buy spare compute capacity at a premium. This approach would be similar in concept to offerings such as Amazon Web Services' Bedrock.
The move would serve two purposes: reduce Meta's reliance on advertising revenue and position the company as a direct competitor to major cloud providers including Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet.
Why the idea surfaced
At Meta's annual shareholder meeting in May, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the plan is "definitely on the table." He noted that other companies regularly ask Meta to provide access to AI models or to sell spare compute capacity. Zuckerberg added that Meta had not sold such capacity so far because it expected to make use of it internally, but if buildouts lead to excess capacity, selling it could become an option.
Market context and figures
The report also notes that tech giants are expected to spend more than $700 billion on AI infrastructure this year, compared with roughly $400 billion estimated for 2025. Meta's potential entry into cloud services comes as companies are investing heavily in data centers and AI capacity, which can sometimes result in surplus compute resources.
Sources and potential impact
Bloomberg cited internal sources for the initial report, and Reuters covered the resulting share movement. If implemented, Meta's plans could materially affect competition in the cloud market and alter aspects of the company's revenue mix.
(The cover image is illustrative.)
