"Investing 'very heavily' in capital expenditure and infrastructure is going to be a strategic advantage over time," Mark Zuckerberg said.

Chinese startup DeepSeek claims to offer competitive AI models at lower costs, raising doubts about U.S. tech giants' investments in AI. Microsoft and Meta defend their significant spending, highlighting its importance for long-term strategic advantage amidst increasing demand for AI solutions.

The tech giant’s revenue was up 12 percent to $69.6 billion, but investors are showing their nerves after a long boom for tech stocks.

Microsoft Corp. said its cloud-computing business will continue to grow slowly in the current quarter as the company struggles to build enough data centers to handle demand for its artificial intelligence products.

Microsoft reported slower-than-expected growth in its crucial Azure cloud business on Wednesday despite beating estimates for overall quarterly revenue and increasing use of its cloud services for artificial intelligence.