Applications
Meta forecasts up to $135 billion capex in 2026
CALIFORNIA: Meta Platforms is going all in. The Instagram and Facebook owner has sharply raised its capital expenditure for 2026 to between $115 billion and $135 billion, nearly double last year’s spend, signalling CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s aggressive push toward artificial superintelligence. Investors cheered, sending shares higher, buoyed by robust advertising growth.
Speaking to analysts, Zuckerberg called 2026 a “pivotal year” for Meta, highlighting the focus on delivering highly personalised AI capabilities while reshaping internal operations.
The spend surge is driven by infrastructure costs, higher depreciation from AI data centres, and rising operating expenses linked to compute-intensive workloads. Meta has secured capacity deals with external providers including Alphabet, CoreWeave and Nebius, though capacity constraints are expected through much of the year, according to chief financial officer susan li.
Meta’s fourth-quarter performance underpinned confidence in the strategy. Advertising revenue, still the core engine, jumped 24 per cent year on year to $58.14 billion, up from $46.78 billion a year earlier. Strong ad cash flows helped the company beat earnings expectations and issue a first-quarter revenue forecast of $53.5–$56.5 billion, well above analyst estimates.
Despite the ad boom, capital expenditure surged 49 per cent, contributing to a decline in operating margin as infrastructure costs accelerated. Meta has been able to fund its AI ambitions largely through advertising, which benefits from AI-driven improvements in targeting and campaign automation. New monetisation channels on WhatsApp and Threads, and competition in short-form video via Instagram Reels, have further strengthened the ad engine.
Meta also projected total expenses for 2026 between $162 billion and $169 billion, reflecting infrastructure costs and rising employee compensation as the company hires aggressively for AI roles in a tight talent market.
“2026 will redefine how Meta works as AI reshapes teams and productivity,” zuckerberg said, underscoring the company’s commitment to superintelligence, a theoretical stage where machines outperform humans across a broad range of tasks.
Market watchers said investors appear comfortable with Meta’s high-stakes strategy, noting that generative AI returns may take time, but the company’s advertising cash flows are strong enough to absorb heavy spending. The outlook contrasts with Microsoft, which also ramped up capital expenditure but saw shares fall amid modest cloud growth.
Meta is charging full throttle into 2026, betting big on AI while keeping the ad engine roaring — and the world is watching.
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
