Feb 19 (Reuters) - Meta reduced its annual

distribution of stock ​options by about 5% ‌for most of its staff,

as CEO Mark ⁠Zuckerberg ploughs billions of dollars ⁠into its

artificial intelligence goals, the ‌Financial ‌Times reported on

Thursday.

The Facebook parent did not ​immediately respond to ‌a request

for comment. Reuters could not independently verify the ​report.

Meta and other ​Big ‌Tech companies are competing to outbuild

each other with massive data centers ⁠to get ahead in Silicon

Valley's ⁠heated AI race.

The social media company expects capital expenditure for

2026 to be between $115 billion and $135 ⁠billion.

Meta ‌has slashed equity-based awards ‌for the bulk of its

employees ⁠for the second year in a row, the report said, citing

people familiar with the matter.

Last year, the company had cut the stock award by ​roughly

10%, which shocked some staff at the time, according to the

report.