Meta [NASDAQ: META] says its artificial intelligence will be free for billions of people.
Mark Zuckerberg committed to that promise in an essay published August 10, without saying what “free” covers, when it starts or what the paid tier costs. The Meta founder and CEO does say his eight-year-old daughter can already code her ideas and produce videos in an evening, work “that would have either taken me months or been impossible previously.”
He wrote this in a section of the essay arguing that AI tools now give everyone what he calls “invention superpowers.” The same section mentions Meta researchers are using these tools to design materials for augmented reality glasses.
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Although deeper in the essay, Meta clarifies that even though the free versions of its AI will reach billions of people, anybody who wants more computing power than the free tier allows will need to purchase that through a “dynamic auction.”
Free for billions, an auction for everyone else
In his essay, Zuckerberg describes an AI agent that works around the clock on your health, career, finances and household. In fact, Zuckerberg’s own agent tracks his sleep and gives him feedback while he trains. He also promises a tutor with a doctorate in every subject, pitched at students whose parents can’t currently afford extra help.
Meta mentions that the auction guarantees the lowest possible price for the computing you use, adding that the auction sends capacity to whatever people collectively want most, which means that when a lot of people want computing power at once, the price everyone pays goes up.
However, the essay lists no rates, no start date and no usage limits. Meanwhile, Meta already charges for computing power. In July, the company opened a paid developer API for Muse Spark, its coding model.
Meta’s Hyperion data center
Zuckerberg writes in the essay that Meta will start releasing open-source models again soon.
In April, the company released Muse Spark as its first closed, proprietary model after three years of giving away its Llama models for free download. The essay describes Meta Superintelligence Labs as newly up and running. Zuckerberg announced the unit in June 2025.
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The essay also shows how Meta builds its own power generation wherever it invests, so its data centers don’t use electricity that would have gone to local homes. In Richland Parish, Louisiana, where Meta is building its Hyperion data center, the utility Entergy asked state regulators in March for permission to build seven more gas plants, along with solar and battery storage, to supply the site.
Consumer groups told regulators that demand on that scale could raise rates for ordinary Louisiana customers, and Gov. Jeff Landry said in June he had ordered new rules drafted for future data center projects.
Louisiana teachers got $50,935 bonuses
The essay cites Richland Parish as proof that communities benefit. Certified school employees there received bonuses of $50,935 this year, up from $10,200 the year before, and support staff received $17,472, up from $3,323, Superintendent Sheldon Jones told The Shreveport-Bossier City Advocate. The money comes from sales tax collected on construction of the site, and Jones said he expects bonuses at that level to last as long as the building work does.
Meta pays the parish under a negotiated payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement, and its equipment purchases are exempt from state and local sales taxes under a break estimated at $3.3 billion over 20 years.
The essay says Jones believes the parish will become one of the nation’s best school districts. In Meta’s press release from July, Jones said it will be one of the best in the region.
What you can do now
As of now, there’s not much you can do because you can’t sign up for the free tier or the auction at the moment, since neither has terms, prices or a launch date. If you pay monthly for AI tools or you’re pricing tutors for your kids, there’s nothing to act on just yet.
One program that the essay mentions is running, though. America’s Workforce Academy, which Meta launched in June with $115 million for its first year, pays for tuition, airfare, lodging and a daily stipend while you train for construction and fiber technician work. The first group started in Ohio and Indiana, with Louisiana and Texas planned for this year. Graduates get jobs through Meta’s contractors after passing an application, a background check and a drug screen. Meta hasn’t said what those jobs pay.
Zuckerberg also writes that Meta will build a private mode that even Meta can’t see into, for people who might give an agent access to their financial accounts. That mode hasn’t been built yet.
Moneywise contacted Meta, Entergy Louisiana and the Richland Parish School Board with questions about the essay’s claims on pricing, open-source releases, power supply and school funding. None had responded by publication.
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This article originally appeared on Moneywise.com under the title: Mark Zuckerberg says his daughter, 8, already codes and makes videos that would have been ‘impossible previously’
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