Meta to issue non-voting stock to fund AI, trading in 2027

Meta's move to create a new class of non-voting shares comes as the company says the scale of investment needed to compete and expand infrastructure amid the AI transformation is significant. The share class is intended to broaden its funding options beyond existing tools, according to CFO Susan Li, giving it flexibility to invest behind what she described as unprecedented momentum across its business driven by AI.

The company has already been spending heavily on AI, including data centers and talent, and it now expects capital expenditures between $135 billion and $145 billion this year, up from a previous estimate of $130 billion to $145 billion. The new stock, which will also go toward potential acquisitions and employee compensation, adds a mechanism for financing that spending without altering voting control.

Separately, Meta recently launched its AI agent Muse, which reached 10 million downloads in the US this week, and rolled out the Muse Wonder model. The Muse launch has not been without issues, including a report that the agent shared a user's address and a paused conversation-sharing feature after researchers found chats publicly available.