July 30 Reuters Meta Platforms is expected to report a 20 rise in quarterly revenue, helped by strong ad sales driven by the Olympics and elections in several countries, but investors will want to see if its spending on AI is starting to yield returns.

The social media giant, like its tech rivals Googleparent Alphabet and Microsoft, is spending billions on tech infrastructure to support AI development. In April, Meta39;s upward revision in fullyear expenses shaved off nearly 170 billion from its market capitalization in a single day.

Alphabet39;s warning last week that capital expenses would stay high this year, overshadowed a jump in ad sales and pushed its stock down.

Meta is betting on an opensource approach for its generative AI push. The company released its mostly free Llama 3.1 artificial intelligence model last week, and said developers can use and modify its AI models free of charge.

It has burnished its adbuying products with AI tools and introduced new AI features such as a chat assistant to drive engagement on its social media properties. On Monday, it said it would roll out a new tool called AI Studio that would allow users to create, share and design personalized AI chatbots.

We are bullish on Meta39;s position as a key pillar of opensource AI, Jefferies analysts said, adding that the company could potentially unlock new revenue streams by licensing its AI models or creating AI apps.

Meta shares have risen 32 this year, compared with a near 16 rise…