META · 10-Q · 2026Q2 · Full report
R&D Investment in AI
Meta Platforms, Inc. · 2026-07-30 · Importance 83 · Surprise 82 · In source text
Second-quarter research and development expense increased 67% to $21.656 billion, while six-month R&D expense increased 57% to $39.354 billion. The increases reflected higher employee compensation, data-center and technical-infrastructure costs, third-party cloud services, and third-party AI token costs. Employee compensation increased mainly because of higher share-based compensation and severance expense. Meta stated that it significantly increased infrastructure investments for generative AI and superintelligence, including servers, data centers, network infrastructure, and third-party cloud capacity.
Key facts
- Research and development expenses in the three months ended June 30, 2026 were $21,656 million compared to $12,942 million in the three months ended June 30, 2025, an increase of $8.71 billion, or 67%.
- We are making significant investments in AI, including generative AI, to improve our delivery, targeting, and measurement capabilities and to develop new products and features.
- The increases in R&D expenses were primarily due to higher employee compensation, infrastructure expenses related to our data centers, technical infrastructure, and third-party cloud services, and third-party AI token costs.
Impact estimates
| metric | direction | stage | expected | basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| operating_income | negative | realized | -7.4% | Research and development expenses in the three months ended June 30, 2026 were $21,656 million compared to $12,942 million in the three… |
| operating_income | negative | probable | — | We are making significant investments in AI, including generative AI, to improve our delivery, targeting, and measurement capabilities and… |