Meta’s AI Model Rentals: A Summary
Meta is spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually to access Artificial Intelligence (AI) models through Microsoft's cloud platform, Azure. This information was revealed by Bloomberg, citing a source who requested anonymity.
According to the report, Meta runs trillions of tokens weekly on Azure, making it one of Microsoft’s largest AI customers. However, both companies have declined to comment on the matter.
This spending highlights an interesting dynamic: Meta, despite building its own frontier models and owning data centers, is still purchasing model access from a competitor at this scale.
Key Points:
- AI Model Access: Meta is buying access to AI models through Microsoft’s Azure marketplace, known as Foundry.
- Marketplace Focus: Foundry offers models from various providers, including OpenAI, and has around 100,000 customers as of July 2026.
- Purpose: Meta utilizes these models for software development, comparing the output of its own models to those purchased from external sources.
- Top Customers: ByteDance (Tiktok’s parent company), Adobe, Perplexity, and Sierra (a customer service startup co-founded by OpenAI chairman Bret Taylor) are among Microsoft’s largest AI customers, according to Bloomberg.
- Revenue Growth: Foundry’s revenue has more than doubled year over year, with a significant increase in customers using multiple providers and the number of tokens run at an annual rate.