Meta details $600 billion US investment pledge that led to a hot-mic moment between Zuckerberg and Trump (www.businessinsider.com)

Meta has formalized a previously floated pledge to invest more than $600 billion in the United States through 2028 to "support AI technology, infrastructure, and workforce expansion." The headline figure surfaced during a September White House dinner where Mark Zuckerberg later had a hot‑mic exchange with former President Trump; Meta’s CFO subsequently described the amount as the "total envelope" covering US data center builds and investments that support its US business and hiring. The company says the spending will accelerate AI-optimized data center construction, broaden hiring, and back supply‑chain work for contractors across the country. Technically and strategically, the commitment is significant: it signals a major private expansion of AI compute capacity, likely driving demand for data‑center power, networking, and specialized cooling and chip infrastructure. Meta plans to pursue low‑water data center designs and aims to be "water positive" by 2030, while citing that prior data center initiatives supported 30,000 skilled trade jobs and 5,000 operational roles; Meta is currently directing over $20 billion to U.S. subcontractors. Meta acknowledges the risk of overbuilding compute capacity but deems it preferable to falling behind in the AI race—meaning short‑term depreciation and idle capacity are acceptable tradeoffs for long‑term strategic positioning and U.S. tech leadership.