Meta's Big Bet on AGI: Investing Hundreds of Billions to Build the World's Largest Data Center, May Abandon Open Source Strategy
As one of the holdings of $KraneShares Artfcl Intllgnc and Tech ETF(AGIX.US), Meta $Meta Platforms(META.US) is betting on the future of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) on an unprecedented scale. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company will invest hundreds of billions of dollars to build the world's largest data center cluster to support its AGI R&D. Meanwhile, Meta is internally debating a fundamental strategic shift: whether to abandon its iconic open-source approach and pivot to developing closed-source AI models.
Hardware Investment: Building a Supercomputing Cluster on the Scale of "Manhattan"
To achieve the grand goal of AGI, Meta is undertaking unprecedented infrastructure development.
Massive Investment: Zuckerberg confirmed plans to invest "hundreds of billions of dollars" to construct multiple "multi-gigawatt" data center campuses.
Staggering Scale: One of the data centers under construction is "almost as large as Manhattan Island." The goal is to become the first company with a "super cluster" exceeding 1 gigawatt capacity, far surpassing the current industry standard of hundreds of megawatts.
Clear Objective: Zuckerberg emphasized that despite the massive investment, Meta's robust core advertising business (annual revenue of nearly $165 billion) can fully support this plan. The move aims to secure a computational advantage in the long-term race toward AGI.
Strategic Pivot: From Open-Source Pioneer to Closed-Source Exploration
Amid the aggressive hardware push, Meta's AI strategy is undergoing a profound transformation, centered around the newly established "Meta Superintelligence Labs." To lead AGI R&D, Zuckerberg personally assembled a top-tier team, including researchers poached from OpenAI and Google DeepMind, appointing Scale AI co-founder Alexandr Wang as Chief AI Officer and recruiting several industry leaders with sky-high compensation packages.
The lab is debating whether to abandon the company's most powerful open-source model, Behemoth, in favor of developing a more competitive closed-source model. Reports indicate that the Behemoth model's release has been delayed due to underwhelming internal performance, with related testing suspended. Facing fierce competition from closed-source rivals like Google and OpenAI, Meta may be forced to reassess the effectiveness of its open-source strategy.
Meta is pursuing a dual approach: building an unprecedented physical computing barrier through massive capital investment while engaging in deep strategic reflection. Although the debate over "open-source vs. closed-source" remains unresolved, the discussion itself is a significant signal. As Zuckerberg once said: "We're obviously very supportive of open source, but I haven't committed to releasing everything we do." This suggests that to win the ultimate AI race, Meta is prepared to adjust its long-held principles.
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