While many in the tech world are alarmed by the rapid rise of DeepSeek, Meta remains unfazed.
That was the message from CEO Mark Zuckerberg during Meta’s fourth-quarter earnings call on January 31. Addressing investor concerns, Zuckerberg was asked about DeepSeek’s impressive AI models and their impact on Meta’s AI strategy. He reassured investors that DeepSeek’s achievements, despite relatively modest resources, only reinforced Meta’s focus on artificial intelligence.
Zuckerberg acknowledged DeepSeek’s innovations, stating that Meta is still analysing their approach and intends to integrate some of their advancements into its AI model, Llama. He also addressed market concerns about AI computing power, which had caused a sell-off in AI stocks. He maintained that Meta’s massive investment in infrastructure and GPUs would remain a key advantage in the long run.
AI computing power remains key to Meta’s strategy
Zuckerberg argued that computing power will shift from training models to enhancing their reasoning capabilities as AI evolves. He dismissed concerns that AI models require significantly less computing power, stating, “You can apply more compute at inference time to generate a higher level of intelligence and a higher quality of service.” Meta is gearing up to launch Llama 4 with multimodal and advanced capabilities in the coming months. Zuckerberg expects Meta’s AI assistant to reach one billion users in 2025.
He also took a subtle swipe at OpenAI, Anthropic, and other AI startups, highlighting Meta’s strong business model. He noted that Meta’s projected US$60 billion AI investment is backed by sustainable revenue, unlike other firms that lack profitable business models.
Meta’s financial performance remains strong
Meta’s latest financial results reinforce its dominance. The company reported fourth-quarter revenue of US$48.39 billion, a 22% increase year over year, while net profit surged 43% to US$20.8 billion. CFO Susan Li stated that changes in Meta’s content policies had no significant impact on ad spending. In addition, daily active users across Meta’s platforms grew by 5% to 3.35 billion.
Zuckerberg also praised President Donald Trump, saying the current US administration prioritises American technology and supports leading companies. Just before the earnings call, news broke that Meta had agreed to pay Trump US$25 million to settle a lawsuit over his account ban following the January 6 insurrection. Most of the settlement funds will reportedly go toward Trump’s presidential library.
