Meta on Friday floated plans to invest $600 billion in US infrastructure and jobs by 2028 as part of a massive datacenter expansion.

The lofty [1]goal eclipses OpenAI's $500 billion Stargate initiative. But like its rival, Meta can't actually afford the infrastructure project CEO Mark Zuckerberg has [2]promised President Donald Trump.

For Meta to realize the $600 billion goal by the end of 2028, it would need to increase its capital expenditures nearly threefold from the $70-72 billion it expects to spend in 2025.

[3]

Zuckercorp has already [4]warned of "notably larger" spending in 2026, but the company earned "only" $62 billion in profit last year, up from $39 billion in 2023. So even if it used all of its near-liquid assets — as of Q3, Meta had about $44.5 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and other marketable securities — and plowed every dollar of profit into bit barns for the next few years, Meta would be hard pressed to pull this off.

[5]

[6]

That is, unless Meta takes on massive debt.

All signs point to Meta doing just that. Last month, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram [7]revealed plans to sell $30 billion in bonds, some of which won’t mature for 40 years, to finance its expansion. Meanwhile, in late October, Meta entered into a joint venture with Blue Owl Capital to finance its Hyperion datacenter in Richland Parish, Louisiana, which is expected to top 5 gigawatts of capacity when it's completed in 2030.

[8]

Under that agreement, Blue Owl would [9]develop and own the datacenter campus while Meta would provide construction and property management. Once complete, Meta will lease the campus back from the joint venture on a recurring basis.

Funds represented by Blue Owl would hold an 80 percent interest in the joint venture, while Meta will retain a 20 percent stake in the development.

[10]Agents of misfortune: The world isn't ready for autonomous software

[11]Meta to sell $30B in bonds to build AI datacenters

[12]AI is making Google and Meta even stronger and richer

[13]OpenAI's Altman and Friar walk back remarks about federal loan guarantees

The deal essentially amounts to Zuckerberg convincing his finance buddies to take out loans on his behalf to pay for a datacenter that he's only committed to renting for the next four years. Yes, he will likely have to pay a penalty tied to the site's residual value for early termination or non-renewal during the first 16 years of operation, but if the bubble bursts, Meta may still come out ahead.

If Meta has any hope of realizing its $600 billion US infrastructure expansion, Zuck better hope his financiers have deep pockets and a lot of patience. ®

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[1] https://about.fb.com/news/2025/11/meta-data-centers-drive-economic-growth-across-us/

[2] https://www.reuters.com/business/meta-plans-600-billion-us-spend-ai-data-centers-expand-2025-11-07/

[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aQ7OZ9BdhFCnASkDJNJ1SwAAAU0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[4] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/30/meta_alphabet_q3_2025/

[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aQ7OZ9BdhFCnASkDJNJ1SwAAAU0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aQ7OZ9BdhFCnASkDJNJ1SwAAAU0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/31/meta_launches_30_billion_bond/

[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aQ7OZ9BdhFCnASkDJNJ1SwAAAU0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[9] https://investor.atmeta.com/investor-news/press-release-details/2025/Meta-Announces-Joint-Venture-with-Funds-Managed-by-Blue-Owl-Capital-to-Develop-Hyperion-Data-Center/default.aspx

[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/06/agents_of_misfortune_the_world/

[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/31/meta_launches_30_billion_bond/

[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/30/meta_alphabet_q3_2025/

[13] https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/06/openai_cfo_walks_back_remarks/

[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/