4 Key Takeaways From Meta’s Earnings Call

After Meta Platforms (META) reported second-quarter results that beat analysts’ estimates, CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave investors an update on the tech giant’s artificial intelligence (AI) developments, outlook, and more in the company’s earnings call.

Meta AI Could Be ‘Most Used AI Assistant’ by Year End, Though Monetization May Be Years Out

Meta highlighted several of its AI-related developments in the call, including progress in adoption of Meta AI, the company’s AI assistant that is integrated into Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Zuckerberg said Meta AI, which rivals offerings from Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI and Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google, is “on track to achieve our goal of becoming the most used AI assistant by the end of the year.”

However, it may be some time before Meta AI can be monetized, with Zuckerberg telling analysts that monetization isn’t expected for “years.”

Investing in AI Now, To Avoid Falling Behind Later

Meta, along with many of its big tech peers, has boosted spending to invest in AI infrastructure, raising concerns about whether AI’s costs will pay off.

In its second-quarter update, the company lifted the lower end of its outlook for full-year capital expenditures (CapEx) to $37 billion from $35 billion, with the upper end unchanged at $40 billion. Meta CFO Susan Li also said Meta expects “significant CapEx growth in 2025.”

Zuckerberg told investors, “I’d rather risk building capacity before it is needed, rather than too late, given the long lead times for spinning up new infrastructure.”

Zuckerberg Says He’s Bullish on Open-Source AI

A longtime supporter of open-souce AI, Zuckerberg said he’s still “bullish on open source,” calling it “better for developers, for Meta, and for the world.”

While Meta doesn’t directly profit from promoting open-source tools, AI openness could help the company gain more influence and better compete with makers of closed AI models like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic.

The CEO said Meta has “saved billions of dollars” from previous open-source computing projects.

Meta recently unveiled Llama 3.1, its most capable open-source AI model yet, and Zuckerberg said the company is already working on Llama 4, which Meta aims to make “the most advanced in the industry next year.”

Leveraging AI To Boost Meta’s Advertising Business

Meta indicated that its AI investments will benefit advertisers and its ad business, which drives a significant portion of revenues.

Meta reported advertising revenue increased to $38.33 billion, better than analysts expected, with higher average prices per ad and more ad impressions across its apps.

Zuckerberg said that along with improving content recommendation engines to boost engagement, the company’s AI offerings are also making advertising “more effective.”

Li said that optimizing ads using AI tools to determine which ads to show users ultimately improve ad performance and the user experience.

Shares of Meta were up over 7% at $510.25 as of 7:45 p.m. ET Wednesday following the company’s earnings call.