Google is focusing its artificial intelligence (AI) investments primarily on expanding technical infrastructure, according to Eunice Huang, Head of AI and Emerging Tech Policy for Google APAC. Speaking at the Reuters NEXT Asia summit in Singapore on Wednesday, Huang echoed CEO Sundar Pichai’s belief that “the risks of underinvesting [in AI] are dramatically higher than the risks of overinvesting.”
In line with that philosophy, Alphabet — Google’s parent company — reaffirmed in April its commitment to investing around $75 billion this year to expand data center capacity, despite global economic uncertainties and tensions over U.S. tariffs. The company emphasized that its AI strategy is already showing strong returns.
Meanwhile, Meta Platforms is taking a more aggressive approach on the human capital front. The company is ramping up recruitment for its newly launched Superintelligence Labs, part of a unified AI initiative aimed at keeping pace with rivals such as Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic.
The hiring spree comes amid internal challenges at Meta, including lackluster reception to its Llama 4 open-source model and high-profile staff departures. These setbacks have given competitors like Google and China’s DeepSeek an edge in the ongoing AI race.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made strategic hires from Scale AI, a data-labeling startup in which Meta invested $14.3 billion. The company also appointed Scale AI’s former CEO as its Chief AI Officer, according to an internal memo reviewed by Reuters.
In a striking revelation, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman claimed in June that Meta offered his employees bonuses as high as $100 million in an effort to poach top AI talent — underscoring the fierce competition in Silicon Valley’s AI landscape.
