MENLO PARK, California: Meta Platforms plans to raise up to US$95 billion in its largest-ever equity fundraising, turning to investors to help finance an increasingly costly expansion of its artificial intelligence infrastructure.

The Facebook parent has launched public offerings worth about $35 billion in common and convertible preferred stock and plans a separate at-the-market share sale program of up to $60 billion.

The larger program will begin after Meta's new non-voting Class C shares start trading, which is expected in the first quarter of 2027. The company said it has not yet finalized the timing and terms of that sale.

Chipmakers Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, and Broadcom have expressed interest in buying up to $5 billion of Meta's Class A shares.

Their interest has fueled concerns about an increasingly circular flow of capital in the AI industry, as chip suppliers may help finance the expansion of one of their biggest customers.

Meta has been spending heavily on chips and data centers as it competes with OpenAI and Anthropic.

"We expect investors to continue to question the financing and potential for future capital raises," William Blair analysts said.

"Overall, we believe the financing reinforces both Meta's confidence in the long-term returns from AI investment and the increasingly capital-intensive nature of pursuing that opportunity."

Meta shares fell about 1.4% in morning trading.

The fundraising comes as major technology companies increasingly turn to debt and equity markets to finance AI infrastructure after previously relying heavily on their own cash. Alphabet earlier this year increased its equity offerings to $84.75 billion.

Meta has committed to spend about $825 billion in the future, primarily on data centers, AI-related infrastructure and cloud computing capacity.

The expansion has put pressure on its historically strong cash generation. Meta reported negative free cash flow of $2.12 billion in the third quarter, its first cash burn in more than a decade, compared with positive free cash flow of $10.63 billion a year earlier.

"We believe that Meta will ultimately produce a profitable AI business and its returns longer-term should help the company diversify, although the path may not be linear," William Blair analysts said.

Meta had $82.45 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities and $80.92 billion in long-term debt as of September 30.

Last week, the company raised its annual capital expenditure forecast to between $135 billion and $145 billion.

Meta said it will issue Class C common stock in January 2027, effectively creating a two-for-one split, to help finance acquisitions and retain employees while maintaining CEO Mark Zuckerberg's control.