Meta is playing the AI game with house money

Here is a 187-word summary of the news article: Meta is investing heavily in artificial intelligence (AI) as its top priority, funded by the company's strong financial performance. In the second quarter, Meta reported revenue of $47.5 billion, up 22% year-over-year, and user growth across its platforms to nearly 3.5 billion. This enabled the company to increase its valuation by over $175 billion, more than the value of 12 major AI deals. CEO Mark Zuckerberg touted Meta's AI efforts, including a new superintelligence lab with access to significant computing power. The company claims its AI models are already improving ad conversions on Facebook and Instagram by 5-3%, and are powering content ranking across its apps. In contrast, Meta's previous focus on the metaverse was barely mentioned in the earnings call. While still spending heavily on that effort, AI has now clearly become Zuckerberg's top priority. Unlike the metaverse, which required building a new platform, Meta sees AI as an opportunity to rapidly improve its core business, using the financial resources at its disposal. The stakes are high, but Meta appears willing to invest aggressively to gain an edge in the competitive AI landscape.