Meta was prepared to write an up to $200 billion AI check before knowing whether its model would work
THE SO WHAT
Being willing to contemplate a $200B AI spend before model certainty shows how far mega-caps have moved from ROI-based budgeting to strategic deterrence. Everyone else in the stack needs to assume that foundation model economics will be distorted by balance-sheet wars and design their own spend with much stricter hurdle rates.
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