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Following its 2025 capex hike, Meta isn’t slowing down. According to the Economic Daily News, the cloud giant will deploy a new wave of custom ASIC-based AI servers next year—code-named Santa Barbara—with up to 6,000 racks planned, while Taiwanese server maker Quanta has reportedly secured the massive order.
The report suggests that Meta is expected to team up with Broadcom on the custom ASIC chips for the project. Unlike general-purpose AI chips from NVIDIA and AMD, these purpose-built ASICs offer better performance with lower power consumption, which attract heavy investments from tech leaders like AWS and Meta, according to the Economic Daily News.
According to TrendForce, Meta has ramped up its demand for general-purpose servers—mostly AMD-based—following the completion of new data centers. At the same time, the company is aggressively expanding its AI server infrastructure and in-house ASIC development, with shipments of its MTIA chips expected to double by 2026.
Meta’s ASIC Ambition
Economic Daily News suggests that the new generation ASIC AI server project, tentatively named “Santa Barbara,” is set to replace the existing “Minerva” servers. The goal is reportedly to deploy 6,000 racks, with rollout expected to begin as early as the end of 2025 and continue into 2026.
Notably, the report discloses that Santa Barbara will feature a massive upgrade—pushing TDP (Thermal Design Power) beyond 180kW. This leap in power demands highly customized racks, SideCars, and liquid-cooling components, making both assembly and part specifications significantly more complex.
According to supply chain insiders cited by the report, Meta has finalized design decisions for two to three ASIC AI server projects this quarter, with trial production set to begin in Q4. Among these projects, Quanta and its Taiwanese server chassis partner have reportedly landed the Santa Barbara deal.
Meta Steps Up Capex Push
At the earnings call last week, Meta has ramped up its spending plans, boosting its 2025 capital expenditure forecast by $2 billion to $66-72 billion, as per Reuters. The firm further flags that expenses will accelerate further in 2026, driven by massive data center buildouts and compensation packages used to attract top AI researchers from competitors, the report adds.
As TrendForce observes, major North American CSPs remain the primary drivers of AI server market growth, with global AI server shipments expected to rise 24.3% YoY in 2025 amid geopolitical tensions and US export restrictions.
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(Photo credit: Meta)
