Meta’s future commitments total about US$825 billion as AI expansion continues

Meta’s future obligations under contracts and leases amount to about US$825 billion, Bloomberg calculated from the company’s regulatory filing dated October 22, 2026. Most are tied to computing capacity and data centers supporting its artificial intelligence operations.

The calculation combines three categories of commitments. The biggest, US$454.5 billion in contracts that cannot be canceled, primarily covers outside cloud services, servers and networking equipment, Meta disclosed. It also includes data center energy supplies and hardware for the Reality Labs virtual reality unit. Of these obligations, US$45.9 billion is payable during the rest of 2026, followed by US$121.4 billion in 2027.

Leases awaiting their start dates account for US$355.7 billion and are not yet recorded on Meta’s balance sheet. They involve data centers, energy infrastructure, shared server facilities and networking equipment. Their commencement dates extend through 2036, with durations reaching 30 years.

A separate five-year cloud agreement covers purchases of up to US$14.7 billion. Meta said that obligation could decrease if the supplier sells the capacity elsewhere. Bloomberg’s July estimate had placed the company’s commitments at almost US$700 billion.

For the quarter ending September 30, Meta reported capital expenditure of US$34.9 billion, with finance lease payments included, and negative free cash flow of US$2.1 billion. The company raised the bottom of its annual spending forecast: it now expects US$135 billion to US$145 billion, against its earlier US$130 billion to US$145 billion range.

Meta stock lost about 3% before regular trading. Insurance against default on its debt became more expensive, with five-year credit default swaps hitting a record near 119 basis points, market reports citing ICE Data Services figures said.