Meta's Mark Zuckerberg Just Predicted What's Next for AI (And It's Excellent News for Nvidia)

Over the past few years, at the start of every earnings season, technology investors have looked for clues about what to expect from one company in particular: Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA). Why such a focus on this player? Because Nvidia has been the key company fueling the high-growth and potentially game-changing industry of artificial intelligence (AI).

Nvidia designs the world's most powerful AI chips, known as graphics processing units (GPUs), as well as a full portfolio of related products and services. It seems unthinkable these days to build an AI presence without leaning at least somewhat on Nvidia. All of this has helped the market giant deliver record revenue, growing in the double or triple digits year over year. And this has pushed the stock price to tremendous gains, increasing 1,300% over five years.

But all of this also has kept investors closely watching for any signs of a change in momentum. This is where Meta (NASDAQ: META) chief Mark Zuckerberg comes in. He just predicted what's next for AI -- and it's excellent news for Nvidia. Let's find out more.

Image source: Getty Images.

Meta's growth story

Before diving in, though, let's talk a bit about Meta, a company that's also proving to be a major AI player. You probably know Meta best for its social media apps, from Facebook and Messenger to WhatsApp and Instagram. And these apps are immensely important as they drive revenue -- advertisers pay to promote their products and services across the apps, where they can easily reach us.

This has helped Meta's revenue to soar year after year. In the recent quarter, it climbed 24% to $59 billion.

In recent years, Meta has turned its attention to AI, investing in infrastructure and building models to power features across its social media apps -- and products of the future. In the near term, the goal is to prompt us to spend more time on these apps and to revolutionize the advertising experience. These efforts should boost ad spending and, therefore, Meta's revenue. In the future, though, Meta's AI research and development may lead to additional revenue sources, too.

Now, let's consider the words Mark Zuckerberg pronounced that offer us a glimpse of what's to come in AI -- and what may be next for Nvidia.

"We are now seeing a major AI acceleration," Zuckerberg said during last week's earnings call. "I expect 2026 to be a year where this wave accelerates even further on several fronts."

He also said 2026 will be a "big year" for "building infrastructure for the future."

Meta and other Nvidia customers

All of this suggests that Meta and other Nvidia customers will continue to flock to the chip giant to power this phase of development. It's important to note that Nvidia's GPUs and related products are needed not only for early AI tasks like training, but they also are necessary as models do their daily jobs: solving complex problems. So, this year, companies are likely to turn to Nvidia for their infrastructure needs and as they actually put their AI platforms to work. If Zuckerberg is right, Nvidia won't see a slowdown in growth any time soon.

What does this mean for you as an investor? Nvidia is well-positioned to see its stock climb this year. Its customers continue to spend heavily on chips and other products in order to support the ongoing development of AI -- and in 2026, we may see growing investment in Nvidia's GPUs to support the actual use of AI to tackle real-world problems. On top of this, the company's planned release of its next platform update -- Rubin -- set for later this year offers an additional catalyst for revenue growth.

All of this means that, though Nvidia has soared in recent years, it's not too late to pick up shares today. And even if the stock doesn't surge in 2026, if the AI boom continues as expected, Nvidia may have much more room to run over the long term.

Adria Cimino has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.