Better to risk billions than fall behind in AI: Zuckerberg

**Better to Risk Billions Than Fall Behind in AI, Says Mark Zuckerberg**

*By Akash Pandey | Sept 19, 2025, 2:12 PM*

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reaffirmed his commitment to heavy investment in artificial intelligence (AI) research and development, emphasizing that the greater risk lies in not being aggressive enough rather than overspending.

**A Calculated Risk Amid an AI Bubble**

In a recent episode of the Access podcast, Zuckerberg acknowledged that an AI bubble is “quite possible.” However, he stressed that for Meta, the larger danger would be falling behind in the race to develop transformative AI technologies.

Zuckerberg highlighted the importance of preparing for the advent of superintelligence, warning that companies moving too slowly could find themselves at a significant disadvantage. He described superintelligence as potentially the most important technological breakthrough in history—one that will fuel new products, innovations, and economic value.

> “The risk, at least for a company like Meta, is probably in not being aggressive enough rather than being somewhat too aggressive,” Zuckerberg said.

**Massive Investment in Infrastructure**

To support this vision, Meta has committed to investing at least $600 billion in US data centers and infrastructure by 2028. This figure, revealed earlier this month and confirmed by Meta’s CFO Susan Li, covers data center expansions as well as broader investments in US business operations, including hiring.

**Balancing Growth with Caution**

Despite the massive financial commitment, Meta has recently slowed its recruitment pace after initially offering substantial signing bonuses to attract AI talent. This strategic caution comes amid concerns from Wall Street regarding Meta’s labor costs and the potential dilution of shareholder value through stock-based compensation without clear innovation outcomes.

**Sustainability and Market Position**

Zuckerberg contrasted Meta’s financial stability with other AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic, which rely heavily on fundraising to cover expensive compute costs. He asserted:

> “We’re not at risk of going out of business,” unlike these private companies whose futures depend on both AI progress and wider economic factors.

**Preparing for Superintelligence**

Looking ahead, Meta is consolidating its top AI researchers into a small, flat “superintelligence” lab that prioritizes research without rigid deadlines. Zuckerberg emphasized that the company aims to make “compute per researcher” a competitive edge by outspending rivals on GPUs and custom infrastructure necessary for frontier AI development.

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Mark Zuckerberg’s vision underlines Meta’s commitment to leading the AI revolution—even if it means risking billions—to avoid falling behind in what he sees as a defining technological race of our time.
https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/business/risking-billions-on-ai-is-worth-the-gamble-zuckerberg/story