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Meta is betting on data centres to serve AI, while Apple’s approach leans on the iPhones and Macs people already own. The contrast is not just technical: one strategy needs heavy upfront investment, while the other shifts more of the computing work to customers’ devices.
Why it matters24/7 Wall St. says Meta spent $34.91 billion on capital expenditure in the reported quarter and recorded negative free cash flow of $2.12 billion. It contrasts that with Apple’s reported $2.37 billion in capital expenditure in its fiscal first quarter, and says Disney teams use AI on Mac to cut cloud-computing costs. That is a useful comparison, not proof that either model will win. Meta’s bet is that serving more AI use will justify its infrastructure bill; Apple’s is that on-device processing can do more of the work. Which route has the better chance of making AI cheaper at scale?
Discuss: Which route has the better chance of making AI cheaper at scale: centralised data centres or inference on devices people already own?
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