Meta's AI strategy: What did burning $10 billion buy?

Last week I had dinner with a buddy doing AI investing in Silicon Valley. He mentioned there's a joke going around: Meta's AI roadmap looks like a pizza that's been gnawed on by a dog—every direction has taken a bite, but not a single slice is intact. Right after he said that, Meta's stock tanked 10%, wiping out nearly $200 billion in market cap. The earnings report showed Meta's capital expenditures surged 36% year-over-year, while revenue only grew 11%. Zuckerberg stated on the call that "capex will be even higher in 2025," and analysts straight-up called it "random flailing."