As the tsunami of artificial intelligence-generated content continues to gain momentum in social apps, prompting confusion, distrust and even revulsion in some cases, social media platforms continue to double down on their AI investments, which will inevitably lead to even more AI infiltration.
On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal published a report which outlined how Meta and other AI developers are spending a lot more on building their AI projects than they’re currently communicating, due to back-end deals that aren’t reflected on their books.
According to WSJ, Meta currently has around $693 billion in off-balance-sheet commitments largely related to AI expenditure.
Those costs are in addition to the financial liabilities listed in Meta’s quarterly reports. In its Q2 update, which Meta published late last month, it capped its 2026 AI infrastructure spend at $145 billion.
But that doesn’t include these additional expenses, which will kick in after these projects are completed.
As per WSJ: “Meta’s gigantic ‘Hyperion’ data-center project in Louisiana, which is the size of about 1,700 football fields, helps explain how big obligations wind up off tech companies’ balance sheets. Meta initially agreed to lease Hyperion for a four-year term starting in 2029, with options to renew for up to 20 years. It guaranteed that it would make bondholders whole if it doesn’t stay the entire two decades. The company doesn’t think payments under that guarantee are probable, so it hasn’t recorded any liability on its balance sheet.”
In other words, Meta doesn’t have to list any financial liabilities from the project until 2029. This forms part of what the WSJ estimates to be around $347 billion in future lease obligations that Meta is able to keep off its official accounting for the time being.
So while Meta has committed hundreds of billions of dollars to AI development, it may actually on the hook for even more than has been reported.
The company’s investment is based on its foundational belief that its AI projects will be a massive ongoing revenue opportunity, but if those options don’t end up coming to fruition, it could lead to financial ruin for the business.
In other words, Meta really, really needs people to be excited about its AI tools and offerings. And as such, the company will likely keep on pushing them in its apps, in stores, on billboards and everywhere else.
The bottom line is that Meta needs to make personal superintelligence happen, otherwise, it’ll be paying trillions of dollars for a failed technology.
So is Meta’s massive AI bet actually going to pay off?
As SMT recently outlined, a significant impediment for Meta’s expanded AI vision could be the company’s poor record on data handling and privacy, as well as overall low levels of trust in Meta among consumers.
Meta is also in the midst of a major court battle related to social media harms, which could end up costing the company billions of dollars in compensation payouts to many users of its apps. Coverage of this, as well as the ongoing push to restrict teen social media use, has contributed to a broader negative view of the business. A 2025 survey from Forrester showed that Meta is one of the least trusted corporations in the world.
Meta’s AI vision will require a significant reversal on this front, because in order for it to play out as Meta hopes, it would require millions of people to agree to allow the company’s AI tools to access their personal health data, their financial records, and all of their personal information. With this, Meta’s personal AI agents would then be able to provide custom advice, and daily action plans and guidance that could help users in various ways.
It’s an interesting concept, but it seems unlikely, at this stage at least, that enough people will be willing to put that level of trust in Meta.
And that factor alone could see these massive AI investments come back to bite the company in three years’ time.
