Imagination Is a Research Expense

The research tax credit Meta claims on its AI chips dates to 1981, written out of fear of Japan to reward risky inventions. Its sponsor says it was meant for 'people power', not 'making things', and has gone way beyond anything imagined. The credit cost $321 billion in 2025, Meta over a tenth of it. Meta says it uses incentives Congress created decades ago.

The research tax credit Meta claims on its AI chips was written in 1981, in Reagan's first year, out of fear of Japan; its sponsor, James Shannon, says it was meant for 'people power' not 'making things' and has gone 'way, way beyond what anybody could have imagined'. Congress's own estimators put its 2025 cost at $321 billion, the second-most expensive corporate break, with Meta alone over a tenth of it; Meta says it is using incentives Congress created decades ago.

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