Meta Platforms plans to double its computing capacity to 14 gigawatts by 2027, a colossal energy demand that intensifies the climate crisis driving forced migration globally. This massive expansion of digital infrastructure, costing billions, underpins a new generation of artificial intelligence models now being rolled out to developers and integrated across Meta's vast social media empire. The company's drive for "personal superintelligence" comes at a steep environmental price, one disproportionately borne by the Global South.
On Thursday, Meta released developer access to its Muse Spark AI, alongside an upgraded version, Muse Spark 1.1. This move pits the social media giant directly against rivals like Anthropic and OpenAI, charging for access to its advanced AI model. Muse Spark 1.1 is touted as Meta's most capable model for real-world coding and agentic tasks. It can write and debug code, use software and external tools, understand text, images, and video, and carry out complex multi-step tasks with less human intervention. Such capabilities raise urgent questions about how these powerful tools might be deployed within Europe's increasingly militarized border regime.
The Energy Drain on a Warming Planet
The tech firm's ambition to reach 14 gigawatts of computing power by 2027, just one year from now, represents an unprecedented thirst for energy. One gigawatt alone can power approximately 800,000 homes. This year, Meta plans to deploy seven gigawatts of computing infrastructure, adding 1 gigawatt in the first half and forecasting another 5.5 gigawatts by year-end. This exponential growth in energy consumption directly exacerbates the climate breakdown, fueling the very conditions that force people to leave their homes and seek safety across borders, only to be met by Fortress Europe.
Meta expects to spend as much as $145 billion on AI infrastructure this year. This figure is a significant portion of Big Tech's projected outlay of more than $700 billion on the technology. The demand for components like memory and AI chips has surged, leading to "chipflation," a macroeconomic concern noted by Morgan Stanley analysts. This corporate spending spree diverts resources and drives up costs, impacting global economies and further entrenching inequalities.
Digital Fortress: AI and Surveillance
The upgraded Muse Spark 1.1 model is now available in "Thinking mode" in the Meta AI app and on the website. It is also expected to replace existing Llama models powering chatbots on WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Meta's collection of smart glasses. The integration of such advanced AI into platforms used by billions worldwide creates an unprecedented network for data collection and analysis. While Meta pitches "personal superintelligence," the potential for these systems to be co-opted for state surveillance, biometric identification, and the tracking of marginalized communities, including migrants and asylum seekers, is a grave concern. The release follows a company announcement on Tuesday expanding generative AI tools across its apps by rolling out Muse Image, its first image-generation model from Meta Superintelligence Labs.
Corporate Power and Global Exploitation
To fuel its AI expansion, Meta plans to start manufacturing an artificial intelligence chip, code-named "Iris," from September. This in-house design is part of a four-generation project for Meta Training and Inference Accelerators. The company aims to use custom-built silicon to improve the AI that powers its Facebook and Instagram social media platforms, seeking to lower its massive computing costs and gain more independence from chip suppliers like Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices. Meta tailored the chip for its own needs and is working with Broadcom to help design it and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to manufacture it.
Meta unveiled Iris under its technical name in March, alongside three other AI processors. It plans to launch a new chip approximately every six months through 2027. To expand its computing infrastructure, Meta has secured long-term, multi-year supply agreements with Samsung Electronics for memory chips, Sandisk for flash storage, and Sumitomo Electric for fiber-optic equipment. These global supply chains, often opaque, rely on resource extraction and labor practices that frequently exploit workers and communities in the Global South, further illustrating the deep connections between technological advancement, corporate profit, and global injustice.