Meta's financial commitments toward artificial intelligence infrastructure continue to balloon, drawing intense scrutiny over the company's credit risk.

According to regulatory filings submitted on Thursday, the company's total future spending obligations reached approximately $825 billion as of the end of September, covering leases, cloud computing contracts and data center agreements, with a substantial portion tied directly to AI computing capacity and infrastructure buildout. This figure marks a sharp increase from the roughly $700 billion disclosed in July, adding more than $100 billion in commitments within just a few months.

Prior to that, Meta had raised its full-year capital expenditure plans when releasing quarterly earnings on Wednesday and announced the creation of a new class of non-voting stock, providing a potential financing tool for future acquisitions and other expenditures.

On Thursday, the price of five-year credit default swaps measuring Meta's credit risk surged to an all-time high, while the company's bonds weakened significantly relative to U.S. Treasuries. This reflects deep-seated investor concerns that tech giants' persistent borrowing to fund AI expansion will further strain an already oversupplied bond market. Meanwhile, CDS prices for hyperscalers and chipmakers including Oracle, Microsoft and Broadcom also climbed in tandem, signaling that market vigilance over debt risk across the entire technology sector is spreading.

Spending commitments jump from $700 billion to $825 billion

The direct trigger for this market turbulence was the latest spending commitment data disclosed by Meta following its quarterly report. According to regulatory filings submitted on Thursday, Meta has entered into future spending agreements worth approximately $825 billion across various leases and contracts, with the majority related to AI computing power and infrastructure.

Specifically, Meta has operating and finance lease obligations not yet recorded on its balance sheet totaling $355.7 billion, covering data center and energy infrastructure leases that take effect progressively from the remainder of this year through 2036. Additionally, as of September 30, the company has $454.5 billion in non-cancelable short-term and long-term contracts, primarily involving third-party cloud computing procurement, data center energy agreements, and consumer hardware products under its Reality Labs division. Meta also disclosed that it is committed to purchasing up to $14.7 billion in cloud computing capacity over five years, though this amount may be reduced if cloud service providers sell capacity to other customers.

By comparison, Meta disclosed future spending commitments of approximately $700 billion in July, meaning the total has surged substantially in just a matter of months.

Credit risk gauge reaches historic extreme

According to ICE Data Services, Meta's five-year CDS price rose by as much as 8.9 basis points in a single day on Thursday, reaching about 119.3 basis points, the highest intraday level since the contract began trading. A higher CDS price means investors are paying more for insurance against debt default risk, and this jump directly reflects market unease over Meta's debt burden.

At the same time, the spread between Meta's existing bonds and U.S. Treasuries widened in tandem, pressuring bond prices lower. CDS prices for peers including Oracle, Microsoft and Broadcom also rose that day, indicating that the market's concerns are not limited to Meta alone but are spreading across the entire AI-heavy technology sector.

Expansion strategy sparks debate

Notably, Meta's AI expansion path differs fundamentally from competitors such as Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon 鈥?Meta typically does not sell computing power externally, meaning the risk of over-investing in data centers falls entirely on the company itself rather than being diversified through cloud service customers.

During the quarterly earnings call last Wednesday, investors repeatedly pressed Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on whether there were concrete plans to launch a cloud services business, but Zuckerberg did not provide a clear answer. Meanwhile, Meta raised its full-year capital expenditure forecast in its quarterly report and announced the issuance of a new class of non-voting stock, which could potentially be used to pay for acquisitions and other expenses in the future.

At present, doubts remain over whether Meta can generate sufficient returns from its massive AI investments, and the ever-rising spending commitments and credit risk indicators are prompting bond market investors to reassess the cost of this high-stakes gamble.