While analysts and insiders have expressed concerns about a potential "AI bubble," Mark Zuckerberg's Meta just bet over $2 billion on artificial intelligence, according to an exclusive report from The Wall Street Journal.
In July, The New York Times reported that Meta and Zuckerberg were "on a spending spree" with AI, "chasing a hypothetically godlike technology called 'superintelligence.'" Zuckerberg acknowledged Meta's pursuit of "superintelligence" in an August statement.
Earlier this month, the Times followed up with reports of internal tensions over AI in Meta's ranks, and not long after, Business Insider leaked workplace accounts of chaos, conflict, and frantic, unfettered AI investment on Meta's campus.
On Monday, the Wall Street Journal confirmed that Meta agreed to acquire a Singapore-based AI startup. Manus "conducts deep research and performs other tasks for paying users," the outlet explained.
Tech news site TechCrunch covered Meta's acquisition of Manus, asserting that "Zuckerberg … has staked Meta's future on AI."
Manus was notable for being a profitable AI offering, the outlet added, as investors have become "increasingly twitchy about Meta's $60 billion infrastructure spending spree," coupled with the "broader tech industry's debt-backed expenditures on data center construction."
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In October, the World Economic Forum explained why concerns about an AI bubble kept escalating, citing unprecedented investment in AI technology and data centers with no clear plan for a return on investment.
Data centers, a massive part of AI infrastructure, have become controversial irrespective of the technology to which they are attached — the facilities have begun popping up across the country, emitting pollution and sapping public resources.
In addition to being a localized nuisance, AI data centers consume gargantuan amounts of water and power. Throughout 2025, energy bills rose sharply nationwide, an increase largely driven by data center demand.
The explosion of new data centers has wreaked havoc on the energy landscape and strained public electric grids, making blackouts and service interruptions likelier while effectively forcing ratepayers to subsidize AI firms' growth.
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Although investors and analysts remain fearful that billion-dollar rounds of AI-related spending will culminate in a crash, Meta issued a statement touting the potential for its Manus acquisition to turn a profit.
"We plan to scale this service to many more businesses," Meta's statement read in part.
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