Shares rally on new cloud push
Meta shares closed nearly 9% higher on Wednesday after reports that the company is preparing a new cloud business tied to its artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The move could help Meta recover part of the billions of dollars it has committed to data centers, graphics processors and other computing resources for AI development.
Excess computing power becomes a business
Meta plans to sell unused computing capacity to outside customers, CNBC’s Jim Cramer confirmed. Bloomberg first reported the development.
The company is still weighing how to structure the offering. It may provide access to AI models hosted on its infrastructure, or it may sell raw computing power directly to customers.
A Meta representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
AI demand keeps outpacing supply
Since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022, AI model developers have raced to secure the computing power needed to train and run large systems.
Demand for that capacity continues to exceed supply, pushing major technology companies to spend heavily on specialized infrastructure.
In April, Meta told investors it expects capital expenditures of as much as $145 billion this year as it continues building data centers and acquiring graphics processing units.
Investors see a possible return on spending
A cloud business would allow Meta to generate revenue from computing capacity it is not currently using.
That possibility may reassure investors who have grown concerned about the scale of the company’s AI spending plans.
At the same time, the strategy would push Meta into a highly competitive cloud market dominated by Amazon, Microsoft, Google and CoreWeave.
Neocloud rivals fall after the report
The news pressured shares of companies focused on AI cloud capacity.
CoreWeave and Nebius Group both fell about 12% after investors reacted to the prospect of Meta entering the market with excess infrastructure of its own.
Zuckerberg had signaled the option
Mark Zuckerberg first raised the possibility of selling cloud capacity during Meta’s third-quarter 2025 earnings discussion.
He returned to the idea in May at Meta’s annual shareholder meeting.
“It’s definitely on the table,” Zuckerberg told investors, adding that if Meta reaches a point where it has overbuilt AI infrastructure, “then that is an option that we have.”
Meta follows SpaceX’s example
Meta’s plan echoes a strategy already being pursued by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which began selling excess computing capacity this year.
SpaceX has signed major deals with Anthropic and Google. Anthropic has agreed to pay $1.25 billion per month for capacity, while Google has agreed to pay $920 million a month.
AI strategy remains under scrutiny
Meta is still trying to strengthen its position in artificial intelligence despite heavy investment.
The company spent $14 billion last year to bring in Alexandr Wang from Scale AI.
In April, Meta launched Muse Spark, its first model under Wang’s leadership. The company described it as a “powerful foundation,” rather than a state-of-the-art offering.
