Meta Creates New Share Class to Fund AI Expansion

Meta plans to introduce a new class of non-voting shares to finance its artificial intelligence initiatives, potential acquisitions, and employee compensation. The company announced the move in its third-quarter earnings report released Wednesday, October 21, 2026, with trading in the new shares scheduled to begin in 2027.

The share issuance would give Meta additional funding options as it expands its AI infrastructure and develops models and products to compete with other technology companies. According to the company, the new class of shares is intended to provide greater financial flexibility for its growing investment needs.

Meta explained the rationale for the move in its earnings release, citing the scale of investment required to support its business strategy.

"The scale of investment required to compete, sustain growth, expand infrastructure, and pursue new strategic initiatives amidst the AI transformation taking place in the industry is significant," Meta said in its press release.

Susan Li, Meta's chief financial officer, also addressed the planned issuance during the company's earnings call. She said the additional share class would broaden the company's financing options as AI-related activity drives growth across its operations.

Li described the initiative as a way to support investment while preserving flexibility in how the company finances its expansion.

"Expand our funding tools and give us flexibility to invest behind the unprecedented momentum we're seeing across every part of our business driven by AI," Susan Li, Meta's chief financial officer, said during the earnings call.

Meta's spending plans underscore the scale of its commitment to artificial intelligence. The company expects capital expenditures to reach between $135 billion and $145 billion in 2026, raising its previous forecast of $130 billion to $145 billion, according to its financial update.

The company has been investing in large data centers, recruiting talent from competitors such as OpenAI, and developing AI models designed to compete with systems from other major technology companies. The proposed shares could help finance these efforts alongside potential acquisitions and employee compensation.

Meta has also expanded its consumer-facing AI products. In September, the company launched Muse, an AI agent designed to perform tasks such as organizing email inboxes, booking restaurant reservations, and planning trips.

The Muse app reached 10 million downloads in the United States during the week of October 19, 2026, according to the source report. Meta also introduced its Muse Wonder model during the same week.

However, the Muse rollout has faced privacy concerns. A technology YouTuber reported that the AI agent disclosed his address to a stranger on Facebook Marketplace, raising questions about how the product handles personal information.

Meta also paused Muse's conversation-sharing feature after researchers discovered that chats were publicly accessible on the web. The incidents have added privacy issues to the challenges surrounding the company's expansion of AI-powered services.