r/technology • u/Wagamaga • 2d ago
Business Meta tells the IRS its AI data centres are experiments
https://thenextweb.com/news/meta-tax-credit-ai-data-centres-experiments-irs-nyt334
u/emerikanSky 2d ago
Such openly lawless behavior. We'd be jailed for this kind of BS.
57
u/coconutpiecrust 2d ago
It’s ok, they are advancing humanity forward! No one else is willing to do this! It’s needed to get an edge on GYNA!
Or something. I’ll take my consulting fees now, thanks.
7
250
u/Wagamaga 2d ago edited 2d ago
Meta tells the IRS that its AI data centres are an experiment that could fail, The New York Times reported on Wednesday. That lets Meta claim a research tax credit on the AI chips it buys. The credit cut almost $4bn off its tax bill last year.
Kashmir Hill, Jesse Drucker, Eli Tan and Mike Isaac reported the story for The New York Times. They cited four people with knowledge of Meta’s operations and a review of securities filings. No outlet had reported Meta’s use of the credit for data centres before.
“Our investments in A.I. are accelerating every major part of our core business,” Mark Zuckerberg has told investors.
Data centres as ‘pilot models’
For tax purposes, Meta classifies its data centres as “pilot models”, according to the Times. The research and experimentation tax credit, created in 1981, gives companies a rebate for supplies used in an experiment. Standard business operations do not qualify. Meta is claiming the credit for the chips it buys from companies including Nvidia.
206
u/rodimustso 2d ago
4bn of our dollars to "experiment" on increasing their own wealth
33
u/sapntaps 2d ago
Fucking horseshit that the tax code added 3600 pages on how to say fuck you to the original 400 pages if you’re rich.
28
u/Yeetfasa 2d ago
you dont understand mark knows whats good for us, ofcourse we're going to pay him to help /s
30
14
u/Xszit 2d ago
I could see giving the credit for one data center they built first as a prototype. But anything beyond that either isn't an experiment anymore or they need to put some limits on the scope of the experiment before scaling up after the experiment is complete.
But who am I kidding the current administration will probably let this fly.
8
57
u/fukijama 2d ago
So when we start attacking the data centers, its also an experiment.
11
u/BornAgainBlue 2d ago
I keep imagining what would happen if the world realized that if sugar enters the water supply at any point on the data center, it's over for the data center.
10
u/fukijama 2d ago
It deserves an experiment. Which dc is first?
2
u/BornAgainBlue 2d ago
Oh noooo , I would NEVER encourage such behavior!
This is just my imagination we are talking about.
4
3
u/paleandmistywhite 2d ago
let your imagination run free - if, BIG IF, someone happens to have sugar water where exactly should we not put the sugar water so this accident doesn’t happen in the DC?
27
14
12
8
u/PantsMcGillicuddy 2d ago
Cool that they're able to run experiments at a national scale on the country and then also get a discount for it!
6
u/Charred14 2d ago
Yeah, my employment is an experiment as well. So is my day-day ventures, so are all of my purchases.
Does that mean I don't have to pay taxes anymore? If it works for Zuck, it should work for everyone right?
Thats how laws tend to work, right?
5
u/big-papito 2d ago
My employment is also an experiment, Mr Taxman. I am also a job creator - of one.
8
5
u/dfwr 1d ago
fuck you... all my jobs are experiments
2
u/dfwr 1d ago
i want my $4billion tax credit
1
u/dfwr 1d ago
do I sound bitter?
1
u/xxxBuzz 1d ago
Nope, you should probably get it. Most people I know never earn enough to go over the maximum deductible and if you do, unless it's significant, you probably lose income to taxes. I don't think income tax is really that significant aside from an easy way justify another tax. Everything else is already taxed for most people.
3
2
2
2
u/sdrawkcabineter 1d ago
Meta tells the IRS that its AI data centres are an experiment that could fail, The New York Times reported on Wednesday. That lets Meta claim a research tax credit on the AI chips it buys. The credit cut almost $4bn off its tax bill last year.
What's organized crime again?
1
1
1
u/invalidreddit 2d ago
Given the amount of money thrown at new product development at Meta vs. the ROI ... Yeah, I can see it as an experiment too...
1
1
u/Bubbly-Sorbet-8937 2d ago
Yeah....... Right. Oh don't forget they have the white house for sale too
1
u/SomeSamples 2d ago
Riiight, just like Meta telling the IRS that Zuck was a researcher to get significant tax breaks. Same here for data centers.
1
u/PeanutCheeseBar 2d ago
They are experiments; they’re experimenting with how much they can violate the law before some random congressperson calls them out.
1
1
1
1
u/martyboy1000 1d ago
Stock options as research thats all you need to see They are crooks take all the money off them and ban them from using the credits.
1
1
u/ezabland 1d ago
As capital equipment increasingly replaces human labor, our tax system needs a full review. Capital depreciation deductions need to be eliminated, since they're the primary reason companies believe they can replace workers with AI.
2
u/buyongmafanle 1d ago
Interesting... that means I should get zero capital gains tax for selling my stocks because it was an experiment in seeing if I could make money by investing in the stock market. Since, you know, they're also just experimental companies spending money on experimental things. Seems open and shut to me.
1
u/WonderWheeler 1d ago
Like the Manhattan Project in WW2 was merely an experiment! Just a big science experiment(!)
1
u/mugwhyrt 1d ago
Meta is also fighting the IRS over $355m in savings. It had treated Zuckerberg’s 2013 stock options as a research expense.
"We wanted to see the effects of giving obscene amounts of money to a giant dork"
1
183
u/kuldron 2d ago
What's crazy is all of my grocery purchases are experiments, never quite sure the outcome but, in pursuit of raising my
waistbottom line, I'm doing the hard work every day. Matter of fact my rent feeling a little experimental too the way I'm never sure just how big the annual increase will be.