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.

(Reporting ​by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing ​by Alan Barona)