Zuck's AI flex
Meta's pivot to AI has helped propel its share price 60% higher since November. Will two major announcements this week prove there's substance beyond the hype?
After creating the platforms where memes circulate, Mark Zuckerberg is increasingly becoming one himself. In February he was the world’s most awkward helper when he shadowed Australian UFC fighter Alexander Volkanovski to a championship bout. This week he documented his recovery from a torn ACL by posting a video of himself pushing weight on a leg press, resulting in him being heralded as a “jacked nerd”.
It’s not just Zuck’s getaway sticks that have gotten jacked in the past five months. Meta’s stock is up over 60% since his November injury, amid a ferocious rally for megacap tech stocks with artificial intelligence exposure. That exuberance will easily salve wounds from the pummelling Meta is receiving in Australia after it said it wouldn't renew commercial deals with the local news industry.
Ending those agreements is a small part of the rigorous cost-cutting spree Meta has been on for the past 18 months, something investors have enthusiastically approved of. But top-performing companies can’t just be efficient — packing a punch is important too. Meta is investing billions in artificial intelligence to do just that, as evidenced by two big announcements this week.
Overnight Meta revealed a new generation of its MITA AI chips, custom silicon that will train and power the algorithms that classify ads and recommend social media posts on its platforms. It will also next week roll out two small versions of Llama 3, its newest AI model, as teasers while it prepares to launch the real thing in a few months.
