Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg published a lengthy letter on August 10 making the case that artificial intelligence should be spread broadly rather than controlled by a handful of companies or governments. He also announced that Meta will start releasing open-source AI models again.
Around the same time, the Wall Street Journal reported on August 9 that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been testing memory chips from China’s CXMT for use in iPhones and MacBooks as the company hunts for ways to ease a costly memory supply crunch.
Why Two Tech Giants Are Managing AI So Differently
Zuckerberg’s letter, titled “The Future is for Everyone: The Path to a Positive AI Future,” argues that no single company or government should end up holding all the power that comes with superintelligent AI. It frames Meta’s mission of putting the technology directly in people’s hands as a safeguard against that outcome. To back that up, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) released the open-weight Muse Glimmer model on Monday, a 30-billion-parameter system small enough to run on a single consumer GPU, with plans to open the weights on Muse Spark 1.2 soon.
Apple’s problem is a lot more concrete. Memory chip costs linked to growing AI demand have already forced the company to raise prices globally. CXMT, now the most valuable company listed in mainland China at a $520 billion market cap, could offer some relief, though U.S. export rules keep Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) from ordering custom chips. Any deal carries real political risk, as per WSJ.
Does spreading AI power around, as Meta argues, actually help solve a very real problem like the chip shortage squeezing Apple right now?
Meta’s Bull and Bear Case
Getting back into open-source could help Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) win back developers who have drifted toward OpenAI and Anthropic. The new $1 billion “Future is for Everyone Fund” aimed at data center host communities might ease some local political resistance, useful at a time when more than 500 U.S. data center bans are already active, according to The Information.
The problem is monetization since giving away powerful models for free doesn’t generate direct revenue, and the letter doesn’t give investors much new clarity on how Meta’s enormous AI spending is actually supposed to pay off.
Apple’s Bull and Bear Case
Landing an alternative memory supplier, even limited to ready-made parts, could ease Apple’s cost pressure and cut its reliance on Micron, SK Hynix, and Samsung.
CXMT is already making as many products as it possibly can for the entire year, leaving little room for a major new customer like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). Any visible partnership risks a political backlash given U.S. concerns about the chipmaker’s ties to China’s military.
Insider Monkey’s Hedge Fund Data
Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database shows Meta and Apple drawing similar levels of hedge fund interest, both well behind Microsoft. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) had 262 holders as of Q1 2026, up from 256 the quarter before, while Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) had 170, up from 169. Microsoft, a large-cap tech peer to both, had 282 holders, down from 312.
Conclusion
Meta is betting that openness pays off in long-term goodwill. Apple is solving a hardware problem it simply can’t ignore. Neither path is a guaranteed win, but together they show just how differently AI’s biggest winners are managing its costs.
Overall, hedge funds favor Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) over Apple.
While we acknowledge the risk and potential of META as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than META and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: The Crown Keeps Switching Hands: Apple Inc. (AAPL) vs NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) and Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) vs. Apple Inc. (AAPL): Hedge Funds Favor One over the Other.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
