Meta's share price dropped nearly 8% after the social media giant reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter earnings, with earnings per share coming in at $6.18 against Wall Street forecasts of $7.14, though revenue of $60.8bn narrowly beat analyst expectations. The results overshadowed a high-profile media campaign by chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, who in interviews and a Wall Street Journal op-ed argued that widespread access to AI would democratise services like legal advice and create an era of "personalised super-intelligence." The miss heightens investor scrutiny of Meta's vast AI spending — the company now projects 2026 capital expenditures of up to $145bn — while the firm also faces mounting legal pressure from roughly 3,000 lawsuits alleging its platforms have caused harm to children, which contributed $2.4bn in legal charges to its second-quarter expenses.