Spend versus return, and Meta's spend just jumped. The company's FY2025 Form 10-K, filed 2026-01-29, reports capital expenditures of $69.7 billion for the year — payments to acquire property and equipment. That is up from $37.3 billion in 2024 and $27.0 billion in 2023. The capex line nearly doubled in a single year. These are XBRL facts surfaced via EdgarBeast.
The filing tells you where management's head is. In the 10-K, Meta states that in 2026 it intends to focus on several key investment areas including "AI, Reels and our discovery engine, wearables, [and] monetization of our products." AI leads the list, and a capex line that doubled is the physical expression of that priority.
The payback question writes itself. A company that spent $27 billion on property and equipment two years ago and $69.7 billion last year is making an enormous bet that the infrastructure pays for itself in AI-driven engagement and monetization. The 10-K asserts the strategy; the income statement, over coming years, will be the test.
What the filing does not do is isolate "AI capex" from total capex — the $69.7 billion covers all property and equipment. So treat the figure as total spend with AI as the disclosed driver, not as an AI-only number. The 10-K on sec.gov is the primary source; EdgarBeast indexed the XBRL behind it.