Meta will replace Santosh Janardhan, the executive who runs its data centers, networks and custom chips, with Dave Brown, a former Amazon Web Services executive who joined Meta earlier this year, the company told TechCrunch on Wednesday after Bloomberg reported an internal memo.

The handover puts delivery of a build-out guided at $135 billion to $145 billion in 2026 capital spending in the hands of an executive who joined Meta only this year. In the third quarter, capital expenditures of $34.91 billion topped operating cash flow of $32.79 billion, leaving free cash flow at negative $2.12 billion.

Investors, developers weighing a Meta cloud service and residents near its data center sites each get a new name to watch. Reports on the memo also conflict on who will hold the chief technology officer title for Meta Compute, the infrastructure initiative Meta announced in January.

Meta Confirms Janardhan Will Move to an Advisory Role on Meta Compute

Janardhan, who joined Meta (then Facebook) in 2009, told staff in the memo that he will step down from leading infrastructure and stay through the first quarter of 2027 to support Brown, The Next Web reported. The reasons for the departure are unclear, TechCrunch reported, and a Meta representative confirmed that Janardhan is moving into an "advisory role on Meta Compute" after the transition.

Zuckerberg's note to Janardhan, quoted by The Next Web, said he had "positioned the team and Meta well for this moment."

Janardhan has been head of infrastructure and co-head of engineering, and Meta named him co-lead of Meta Compute in January. According to The Register's launch coverage, his remit includes technical architecture, the software stack, the silicon program, developer productivity and the data center fleet and network.

Outlets Disagree on Who Holds the Meta Compute CTO Title

The Next Web, summarizing Bloomberg's reporting, says Janardhan will advise as chief technology officer of Meta Compute after the handover. The Bloomberg-bylined memo report says the same, adding that the role is meant to advise on technical builds.

PYMNTS, citing CNBC, reports the opposite: that Brown will formally oversee infrastructure and also serve as Meta Compute's chief technology officer. Quartz reports the same, and CNBC reported that Brown will formally lead Meta's infrastructure efforts as part of an initiative spearheaded by President Dina Powell McCormick and Daniel Gross.

Meta's own confirmation to TechCrunch named no CTO, so the title question is open.

Who Is Dave Brown and What Did He Build at AWS?

Brown spent nearly two decades at Amazon, most recently as an AWS senior vice president over compute and machine learning services. AWS CEO Matt Garman announced his departure in an internal memo without naming a destination, and GeekWire reported that the Wall Street Journal said he was bound for Meta. Dave Treadwell took over his AWS unit on Aug. 1.

Meta says Brown joined as vice president of infrastructure, and early reports said he would report to Janardhan and focus on the data center build-out. Outlets differ on his start date: TechCrunch says earlier this year, while CNBC says July.

His technical record is in the hardware layer that cloud providers sell. Brown said in June that Graviton4's two-socket design could make cross-socket data requests take up to three times longer, a delay AWS says its 192-core Graviton5 cuts by putting every core in one socket.

Custom Chips Sit Inside a Handover With No Named Owner in Reports

Janardhan's organization oversaw custom silicon, Meta's in-house chip effort. A Reuters report on an internal memo said Meta planned to start production of its Iris chip in September as part of a four-generation Meta Training and Inference Accelerator (MTIA) program, with Broadcom helping design it and TSMC making it. The same memo said Meta planned to release a new chip roughly every six months through 2027, a cadence that overlaps the Q1 2027 handover.

Reuters also reported that Meta plans to deploy seven gigawatts of computing capacity in 2026 and double that in 2027.

None of the accounts reviewed say who will own the chip program after Janardhan leaves; they describe Brown as taking over infrastructure without giving a full title. Brown's Graviton background is in chips built to be rented out as cloud capacity, while Reuters reported that Iris is aimed at the AI behind Facebook and Instagram.

Capex Outran Operating Cash Flow in Q3 Before Brown Takes Over

Meta narrowed its 2026 capital spending guidance to $135 billion to $145 billion on Oct. 21, raising the low end from $130 billion. The company gave no 2027 capital spending figure; on the earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Susan Li said Meta is still early in developing its budget and capacity plans for next year while expecting to keep investing aggressively.

Zuckerberg said Meta is building capacity to serve more than a billion people over the next few years and that its Muse AI agent is "very compute-intensive to run" today, according to the earnings call transcript. Capacity for that load includes the gigawatt-scale Prometheus cluster in Ohio.

Investors disagree on whether that spending pays. "Watch ROIC crash," investor Michael Burry posted when Meta Compute was announced, warning that heavier infrastructure spending would erode returns. Lane Dilg, a former OpenAI infrastructure policy head, argued the opposite: that Meta is treating infrastructure as an investment portfolio rather than a cost center.

Louisiana Ratepayers and Meta Disagree Over Who Pays for Power at Its Data Center

The White House's Ratepayer Protection Pledge was first signed on March 4 by seven companies. Rachel Peterson, Meta's vice president of data centers, said in coverage of the pledge that "we pay our own way and support communities where we operate."

Sierra Club senior attorney Tony Mendoza disagrees, calling Entergy's proposal to add seven natural gas-powered turbines for Meta's Richland Parish data center "a huge risk to existing customers." Entergy has said the arrangement will deliver about $2.65 billion in customer benefits over two decades. Entergy plans to seek Louisiana Public Service Commission approval at its Dec. 10 meeting.

Three Senate Democrats opened an investigation in March into eight technology companies, including Meta, over data centers powered by new gas plants.

Kaplan's Exit Puts More Policy Work on Powell McCormick, Who Helps Run Meta Compute

Joel Kaplan, Meta's chief global affairs officer, will leave in 2027 after the U.S. midterm elections, Bloomberg reported the departure. Meta has not named a successor, and Quartz reports that Powell McCormick and Chief Legal Officer C.J. Mahoney are taking on more policy work. Bloomberg also reported that Powell McCormick helps run Meta Compute and handles concerns about the company's data centers.

Does Meta Compute Mean Meta Will Rent Out AI Computing Power?

Zuckerberg told shareholders in May that outside firms regularly ask to pay for Meta's AI models or spare computing capacity. The New York Times reported in July that Meta was in early talks to lease up to $10 billion of computing power over two years to Anthropic, and both companies declined to comment, CNN reported.

As of August, Meta Compute had no announced pricing, launch date or confirmed commercial customers.

Meta Has Published No 2027 Budget While Brown Inherits the Build Plan

For investors, the open numbers are the 2027 capital spending plan, which Meta says is still in development, and the Class C share structure effective Jan. 19, 2027. For developers, Meta had announced no compute-rental pricing or launch date as of August. For Louisiana residents, the commission's December 10 meeting, where Entergy plans to seek approval for the seven new gas units, is the nearest decision point. Across all three, Janardhan's handover window runs only through the first quarter of 2027, and Meta has not said who holds the Meta Compute CTO title or who owns the custom-chip program afterward.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is replacing Meta's head of infrastructure?

Dave Brown, a former AWS senior vice president who joined Meta earlier this year as vice president of infrastructure, will replace Santosh Janardhan, Meta told TechCrunch. Janardhan will stay through the first quarter of 2027.

Who will oversee Meta's custom AI chips after Santosh Janardhan leaves?

The reports on the memo do not say. The Register reported in January that Janardhan runs the silicon program, and Reuters reported in July that Meta planned a new chip about every six months through 2027.

Who will be chief technology officer of Meta Compute?

Accounts conflict. The Next Web, summarizing Bloomberg, says Janardhan will advise as CTO, while PYMNTS and Quartz say Brown will hold the title.

How much is Meta spending on AI data centers in 2026?

Meta guides to $135 billion to $145 billion in 2026 capital expenditures, including finance lease principal payments.