META · 10-Q · 2026Q1 · Full report

R&D Investment in AI

Meta Platforms, Inc. · 2026-04-30 · Importance 78 · Surprise 74

Research and development expense rose $5.55 billion, or 46% year‑over‑year, reflecting materially higher investment in engineering, technical teams and infrastructure. The increase was driven by higher employee compensation (including share‑based comp) and elevated infrastructure costs specifically for AI initiatives. R&D is a significant and growing cost pool supporting generative AI, superintelligence research, RL technology development and other long‑term projects. These increases are a major driver of the quarter's operating expense growth and reflect multi‑year investment priorities.