The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that Meta's advertising revenue topped Wall Street targets for the second quarter. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that consumers and the advertisers are spending despite broad economic concerns. Still, Meta also forecast that expenses would rise in both 2023 and 2024, citing costs including legal fees and increased spending on infrastructure considered key to the sector's AI race. Meta second quarter revenue grew 11 per cent to $32-billion (all figures U.S.). That compared with analysts' average estimate of $31.12-billion. Meta ad revenue rose 12 per cent in the quarter, faster than growth at Google, where ad revenue rose 3 per cent. Adjusted earnings per share of $2.98 topped Wall Street targets of $2.91. Meta has been climbing back from a bruising 2022. Meta shares have more than doubled in value this year. The revenue gains provide relief as Meta makes massive investments to upgrade its data centres and stay competitive in an emerging arms race around AI technology, while continuing to invest more than $10-billion a year in a longer-term bet on "metaverse" hardware and software. Meta expects "higher infrastructure-related costs" in 2024.