Meta Platforms is preparing to raise between $20 billion and $25 billion through a new bond sale, as the company doubles down on artificial intelligence infrastructure at a scale few in the industry have attempted.
The move follows a $30 billion bond issuance last year. It signals that the company intends to keep borrowing aggressively to fund its AI ambitions rather than drawing exclusively from its cash reserves.
A Massive Spending Commitment
Just a day before the bond sale was announced, Meta revised its 2026 capital expenditure forecast upward by $10 billion. The company now expects to spend between $125 billion and $145 billion this year alone. That money is earmarked for data centres, custom silicon chips, and the energy systems required to run large-scale AI model training and deployment.
The numbers put Meta among the most aggressive spenders in the global AI race. Across the technology industry, capital investment in AI infrastructure is projected to exceed $700 billion in 2026, underscoring how central the technology has become to long-term corporate strategy.
How the Bond Deal Is Structured
The planned offering is expected to include up to six tranches, with one portion potentially maturing as far out as 2066. Early pricing discussions indicate the longest-dated notes could carry a yield of up to 1.8 percentage points above US Treasuries. This is a premium that reflects the duration risk and also investor confidence in Meta’s credit standing.
S&P Global has rated the debt as investment-grade and maintained a stable outlook on the company. S&P analysts noted they expect Meta’s leverage to remain well below the threshold that would trigger a credit downgrade for at least two years. Even so, the rating agency acknowledged that the sheer scale of AI spending is beginning to register on Meta’s credit profile.
Trade-offs: Metaverse Out, AI In
To support its pivot toward AI, Meta has been scaling back investment in its metaverse division. The company is also reportedly planning workforce reductions of 20 percent or more, with an initial phase expected to affect roughly half that number around May 20.
The internal restructuring reflects a strategic reorientation that has been building for some time. Meta’s leadership has made clear that generative AI and AI-powered advertising tools are now the company’s primary growth vectors.
Meta Is Not Alone
Meta’s bond strategy mirrors moves by other major technology companies navigating the same AI investment cycle. Amazon raised approximately $54 billion across the US and European debt markets in March. Alphabet has issued around $32 billion in dollar and euro-denominated notes. Oracle completed a $25 billion bond sale that reportedly drew strong demand from investors.
For the Middle East, these debt market moves carry real significance. Gulf countries, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, have been deepening partnerships with major US tech firms, and the scale of Meta’s spending commitments speaks directly to the global infrastructure competition that regional players are actively engaging with.
