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Home/Tech/Meta's Daily Users Drop 20 Million Amid AI Spend Surge
VERIFIEDBy Xavier Rivera· ·1 min read

Meta's Daily Users Drop 20 Million Amid AI Spend Surge

Meta discloses a 20 million drop in daily active users across its platforms while boosting 2026 capex by $10 billion to $125-145 billion for AI. Revenue surges 33 percent despite Reality Labs losses and layoffs.

Source:The Verge
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Meta's Daily Users Drop 20 Million Amid AI Spend Surge
TL;DRAI · 60 sec read

Meta's Family daily active people drops 20 million due to internet disruptions in Iran and WhatsApp restrictions in Russia. It raises 2026 capex to $125-145 billion, up $10 billion, from underestimated AI compute demand and data center costs. Revenue grows 33% to $56.3 billion. Reality Labs loses $4.03 billion. Stock falls over 7%.

Meta reports a decline of 20 million in "Family daily active people" — its metric for collective daily users across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger — this quarter compared to the previous three months. The company attributes the fall to "internet disruptions in Iran, as well as a restriction on access to WhatsApp in Russia," according to its earnings call on Wednesday.

Meta increases its projected capital expenditures for 2026 to a range of $125-145 billion, $10 billion more than previous estimates. The Verge cites higher component pricing and additional costs for future data center capacity as drivers. Meta CFO Susan Li states the company had "underestimated our compute demand in the past."
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Revenue grows 33 percent to $56.3 billion this quarter from $42.3 billion a year ago, marking the fastest growth since 2021.

Meta's Reality Labs unit, which builds wearables and VR devices, posts an operating loss of $4.03 billion for the quarter. Employees in the unit face two waves of layoffs since January.
Meta's stock price falls more than 7 percent following the earnings release.
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