On Wednesday, Meta Platforms raised its annual capital spending forecast, a move that indicate plans to invest billions more into Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure even as it faces potential losses from a worldwide youth counteraction against social media.
Compared to its preceding forecast of $115 billion to $135 billion, the Facebook and Instagram parent projected 2026 capital expenditure between $125 billion and $145 ‌billion.
According to Reuters:
Shares of the company fell more than 6% in extended trading
Following years of heightening criricism regarding the safety of children on social media, a warning from Meta on legal and regulatory repercussion in the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) says, “could significantly impact our business and financial results”.
The Company said: “We continue to see scrutiny on youth-related issues and have additional trials scheduled for this year in the U.S., which may ultimately result in a material loss.”
META is facing a soaring number of teens social media ban around the world, coupled with thousands of court cases by individuals, municipalities, states and school districts that indict it of building platforms that are addictive and cause harm to children.
Multiple high-stake court cases are due in the months coming, encompassing the second part of a New Mexico trial and a California case expected to test claims principal to so many similar lawsuits filed by U.S. school districts.
Since it commenced using that metric to measure user numbers across its social media platforms, META reported its first-ever quarterly decline in Daily Active People (DAP).
DAP rose 4% year-over-year in the first quarter to 3.56 billion.
Photo: Meta Logo | Getty Images
