Meta sets up new ‘Meta Compute’ division to scale AI infrastructure, data centres

Meta Compute will be led by Santosh Janardhan and Daniel Gross. Janardhan will oversee the building and operating of Meta’s global data centre network such as the technical architecture, software stack, silicon programme, and developer productivity.

Gross, on the other hand, will be responsible for long-term capacity planning and inking supplier partnerships along with industry analysis and business modeling, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

“How we engineer, invest, and partner to build this infrastructure will become a strategic advantage,” he said in a post on Threads on Monday, January 12. Zuckerberg said that Meta Compute executives will work closely with Dina Powell McCormick, who has joined as Meta’s new president and vice chairman to work on partnering with governments and sovereigns to build, deploy, invest in, and finance the company’s infrastructure.

The establishment of Meta Compute indicates that Zuckerberg is going all in on building data centres and securing energy supply to power them in pursuit of his vision of ‘personal superintelligence’ — a theoretical level of intelligence where AI systems are capable of performing better than humans while helping people use these advanced systems to achieve their personal goals.

The push toward personal superintelligence also signals a shift away from Meta’s earlier focus on developing open-source frontier AI models, following the poor reception of its Llama 4 model. The Facebook and Instagram parent has committed as much as $72 billion in 2025 capital spending. It has also struck 20-year agreements to buy power from three Vistra nuclear plants in the US and develop projects with two companies hoping to build small modular reactors.

Meta is not alone, as several big tech companies are racing to lock in long-term electricity supplies as the rapid expansion of AI and data centres drives power demand in the US higher for the first time in two decades. In response, US President Donald Trump has said that his administration is working with tech companies on the issue of high utility bills due to surging power consumption by data centres. He also said Microsoft will be making “major changes” to this effect.

“I never want Americans to pay higher Electricity bills because of Data Centers. Therefore, my Administration is working with major American Technology Companies to secure their commitment to the American People, and we will have much to announce in the coming weeks,” Trump said.

Who is Dina Powell McCormick?

Following its announcement, Meta’s hiring of Dina Powell McCormick has drawn attention. Cormick has previously served as deputy national security advisor to President Trump. She has also worked in the George W Bush administration under then-US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and spent 16 years at Goldman Sachs as a partner in senior leadership roles, according to a report by TechCrunch.

“Dina’s experience at the highest levels of global finance, combined with her deep relationships around the world, makes her uniquely suited to help Meta manage this next phase of growth as the company’s President and Vice Chairman,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a post.

President Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, “Congratulations to DINA POWELL MCCORMICK, WHO HAS JUST BEEN NAMED THE NEW PRESIDENT OF META. A great choice by Mark Z!!! She is a fantastic, and very talented, person, who served the Trump Administration with strength and distinction.”

Earlier this month, Meta hired Curtis Joseph Mahoney as its chief legal officer. Mahoney served as a deputy US trade representative during Trump’s first term and also worked at Microsoft as a legal executive.