The monumental $600 billion U.S. investment initiative that Mark Zuckerberg informally proposed during a previous White House dinner with then-President Donald Trump is now on the brink of materialization. What was once a conversational estimate has evolved into a formal and unprecedented commitment by Meta, signaling both corporate ambition and a strategic bid to reinforce the country’s dominance in artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure.
In a comprehensive blog post released by Meta this past Friday, the company announced a clear intention to invest more than $600 billion within the United States by the year 2028. The pledge, described as part of Meta’s long-term vision for technological growth, is specifically designed to advance artificial intelligence research and implementation, expand critical data infrastructure, and significantly increase workforce capacity. The statement emphasized that this large-scale capital infusion will bolster innovation, support the physical and digital foundations necessary for next-generation AI technologies, and create enduring economic opportunities across numerous sectors.
This announcement stems from an earlier discussion held in September, when Zuckerberg met with President Trump and other prominent AI figures over a private dinner. During that gathering, he tentatively suggested that Meta might invest “something like, I don’t know, at least $600 billion through 2028 in the U.S.” His phrasing at the time conveyed both ambition and uncertainty, hinting that the exact amount was not yet finalized. Immediately after that remark, a side conversation between Zuckerberg and President Trump—partially picked up on a live microphone—captured Zuckerberg humorously asking, “I wasn’t sure what number you wanted to go with,” suggesting an informal tone despite the magnitude of the proposal.
A few weeks later, Meta’s Chief Financial Officer, Susan Li, expanded on those remarks during a Goldman Sachs technology conference in San Francisco. She offered clarification, explaining that the sum referenced by Zuckerberg represented the “total envelope” of Meta’s projected U.S. investment from the present year through 2028. According to Li, this investment encompasses both the extensive physical data center infrastructure Meta plans to build throughout the country and the wide range of expenditures supporting its nationwide business operations. These expenditures include human capital—the engineers, technicians, and other professionals that drive the company’s technological progress. Her remarks placed the remarkable figure in context, illustrating that it was not a single lump-sum payment but rather a comprehensive investment portfolio to sustain U.S.-based innovation over several years.
Advancing to the present, Meta has now formalized this $600 billion value and released greater transparency regarding how these funds will be allocated. A key component of the plan involves designing and constructing cutting-edge AI data centers that emphasize environmental sustainability. In particular, Meta has pledged to reduce water consumption and aims to achieve “water positive” status by 2030, meaning that its operations will eventually return more water to the environment than they consume. This undertaking aligns with Meta’s broader sustainability goals, harmonizing technological advancement with environmental responsibility.
Accompanying this environmental commitment is a strong economic and social dimension. In its official statement, Meta stressed that locating these projects within the United States will not only accelerate progress in AI and infrastructure but will also create tens of thousands of jobs, stimulate regional economies, and reinforce the nation’s global leadership in advanced technology development. This strategy reflects an intertwining of corporate ambition with broader national objectives, suggesting that investments of this magnitude function as catalysts for both innovation and economic resilience.
Since 2010, Meta noted that its various data center initiatives have already generated substantial employment opportunities, supporting roughly 30,000 skilled trade positions and an additional 5,000 permanent operational roles. Building upon that record, the company is now channeling over $20 billion annually to subcontractors across the United States. These include a diverse range of specialized trades such as steelworkers, pipefitters, electricians, fiber-optic technicians, and others who contribute to the creation of highly sophisticated, AI-optimized data centers. Through this extensive network, Meta is not merely constructing digital infrastructure; it is also stimulating the surrounding industrial ecosystem and strengthening American manufacturing and construction sectors.
Meta’s capital expenditures have grown significantly in recent years, a large portion of which has been dedicated to AI data center construction and network enhancement. This upward trajectory in spending is expected to continue, reaching unprecedented levels in the upcoming fiscal periods. Despite concerns from analysts regarding potential overbuilding or underutilization of AI capacity, Zuckerberg has repeatedly asserted that the risk is justified. To him, the imperative to remain ahead in the emerging global race toward artificial general intelligence outweighs the short-term financial inefficiencies such large-scale investments might entail.
On Meta’s most recent earnings call, Zuckerberg contextualized the decision by describing what he termed the “very worst case scenario.” Even if Meta were to overestimate immediate demand, the company would simply find itself in a position of having “pre-built for a couple of years,” absorbing certain depreciation costs upfront but ultimately benefiting from an infrastructure advantage as the need for computational power catches up. This attitude underscores Meta’s broader philosophy—favoring bold, forward-looking investment over hesitation—reflecting the company’s conviction that readiness, scale, and speed are critical factors in maintaining technological leadership in the accelerating AI era.
Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-600-billion-us-investment-ai-infrastructure-data-center-jobs-2025-11
