Meta's New Equity: Funding AI Without Shifting Power
The social media giant is introducing a non-voting share class to finance its massive artificial intelligence expansion while keeping control in the hands of current leaders.
By Marcus Johnson ·
For investors and employees watching the tech sector, the landscape shifts slightly as Meta prepares a new financial instrument to support its artificial intelligence ambitions. The company has confirmed the creation of a distinct stock category that allows for capital raising and compensation without diluting the voting influence of its current leadership structure. This move signals a strategic pivot in how the firm manages its balance sheet while pursuing aggressive growth in a competitive market.
The financials backing this decision are substantial. Meta reported third-quarter revenue of $64 billion, marking a 26% increase from the same period last year. While these earnings exceeded Wall Street forecasts, the company’s costs and expenses climbed significantly, rising by 68% year-over-year. This surge in spending reflects the heavy investment required to build and maintain advanced AI infrastructure.
During the earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Susan Li detailed the mechanics of the new shares. She stated that the company plans to create a new class of non-voting capital stock, which will be distributed to all existing shareholders through a stock dividend. Li explained that this new class is designed to serve as a publicly traded non-voting stock for capital raising, employee compensation, and acquisitions, all while preserving the voting power of existing Class A and B shareholders.
The primary goal of this structure is to maintain Meta’s founder-led governance model. Li noted that these new shares expand the company’s funding tools, providing the flexibility needed to invest in the momentum driven by AI across various business units. By separating ownership from voting rights, the company aims to raise necessary funds without altering the decision-making hierarchy that has defined its operations.
Meta’s push into AI has been a central focus over the past year. The company released several models, including Muse Spark and Muse Glimmer earlier in 2026. Recently, it introduced Muse Wonder and Muse Spark Open, the latter being an open-weight model with publicly available parameters. Additionally, Meta launched Muse Code, a coding agent for developers, and announced a line of avatars for its AI assistant, Meta Muse, at its Connect event to make the technology more relatable.
The adoption of these AI tools appears to be gaining traction. CEO Mark Zuckerberg reported that in just six weeks, more than 10 million people in the U.S. and Canada set up Muse personal agents. He claimed the product has achieved clear product-market fit and is entering a phase focused on scaling operations, with the long-term expectation of serving billions of users.
However, not all divisions are seeing immediate returns. Reality Labs, which handles AR glasses and VR headsets, continues to operate at a loss, though the deficit is narrowing. The company expects the division’s losses to shrink to between $18 billion and $19 billion, down from 2025 levels.
Beyond financial and product metrics, Meta faces ongoing external pressures. Li acknowledged that active legal and regulatory matters could significantly impact the business. Specifically, the company is under scrutiny regarding youth-related issues in several markets, with multiple trials scheduled in the United States in the coming months.
Source: TechCrunch
