Meta to begin production of in-house Iris AI chip in September 2026, plans to double data center capacity

Published Jul 18, 07:02 AM UTC

Meta Platforms, led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, plans to begin production of its custom Iris AI chip in September 2026 as part of a broader strategy to double its data center computing capacity to 14 gigawatts by 2027. The Iris chip, designed in partnership with Broadcom and manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, is an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) intended to lower AI computing costs and optimize performance for Meta's advertising and recommendation systems. The move comes as Meta faces skepticism from Wall Street over its heavy capital spending, which is projected to reach up to $145 billion in 2026. Despite the stock trading at a forward P/E of 21—a discount to other Magnificent Seven stocks—Meta sees the investment as a strategic advantage to lead in AI efficiency and support new products like AI agents. The company's AI investments have already driven a 33% year-over-year revenue increase in Q1 2026.