Meta is starting an enterprise business to justify its massive AI spending

In case there was any doubt, Meta no longer wants its business to rely solely on advertising. Meta is officially starting a new enterprise business to sell its AI products and services to other companies.

Mark Zuckerberg announced the move in a post on Facebook, saying that selling AI-focused enterprise services represents the "next major pillar of our business." To lead the effort, Zuckerberg has tapped Chirantan "CJ" Desai as the company's new Chief Enterprise Platform Officer. Desai previously ran the database company MongoDB.

The company has been laying the groundwork for this shift over the last several months with a slew of AI-focused tools, including business agents and a coding platform. It's also been rumored that Meta has considered leasing some of its data center infrastructure to other companies, though it has yet to announce specific plans to do so.

"Meta Enterprise Platform will use our strengths that few other companies have: advanced models, leading agents, large-scale infrastructure, and years of working closely with many businesses," Zuckerberg wrote. "Initially, we will focus on bringing our full technology stack, including the Muse agent, Meta Business Agent, Muse API, Muse Code, and more to businesses and developers to help them grow."

Spinning up a new enterprise business could help Meta cash in on its massive AI investments. Zuckerberg has said he expects the company to spend $600 billion on AI in the next two years, with much of that going to fund new data centers. That level of spending has raised questions about how Meta plans to make money from its AI business. The company has started to offer AI subscriptions aimed at consumers and small business owners, but it has yet to prove that Facebook and Instagram users are willing to pay for these en masse. A dedicated enterprise business, on the other hand, could be significantly more lucrative.