Mark Zuckerberg says Meta starting cloud business ‘on the table’

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company could enter the cloud computing market if it overspends on data centers and reaches excess capacity.

“That’s definitely on the table,” Zuckerberg said Wednesday at Meta’s annual shareholder meeting in response to a question about potentially competing. Amazon And Microsoft in cloud computing.

Zuckerberg echoed comments he made on last year’s earnings call, noting, “Almost every week we have different companies coming to us from the outside, asking us to both provide an API service and asking if we have a compute they can buy from us for a slightly higher price than what they’re buying from us.”

Of the four giant hyperscalers in the US, Meta is the only one that does not have a cloud infrastructure and services business. Meanwhile, Meta’s expenditures on supporting artificial intelligence development are right next to its competitors.

In April, Meta raised its 2026 forecast for AI-related capital spending to between $125 billion and $145 billion, up from its previous range of $115 billion to $135 billion. Meta shares tumbled 7% despite better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, underscoring concerns about the company’s high AI spending.

Zuckerberg reminds Wall Street that it has the opportunity to lease some of its computer resources.

“We haven’t done that yet because we think we can use computation,” Zuckerberg said Wednesday. he said. “Frankly, if we get to a point where we feel like we’re overbuilding, then that’s an option we have, and that’s partly what gives us the confidence to invest in achieving that.”

Zuckerberg also discussed the company’s plans involving AI-powered personal assistants, which he briefly detailed in his earnings call in April following the launch of Meta’s Muse Spark AI model.

“People will be more important, not less, in the future, and as people inevitably want to get more out of these intermediaries, there will be an opportunity to charge for premium or high-computation versions,” Zuckerberg said.

Although Meta offers businesses some AI-related features on WhatsApp, these services are currently free. Zuckerberg said the company is also working to “build a longer-term monetization model.”

Separately on Wednesday, Meta said it would begin testing monthly subscription services for its Meta AI app and website, marking the first time the company will charge users for AI features. Meta AI subscription plans will cost $7.99 or $19.99 per month, depending on specific features, and will initially be available in Singapore, Guatemala, and Bolivia.

Zuckerberg said at last year’s shareholders meeting that as Meta AI improves, the company could offer “a subscription service so people can pay to use more computing.”

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