Meta To Spend $10 Billion On Largest Data Centre To Date

Meta Platforms has confirmed a huge data centre investment in the United States, to help meet the computing demand for its AI services.

Meta made the announcement in a Facebook post, stating it is “excited to announce that Richland Parish, Louisiana, will be home to Meta’s newest data centre.” It added the facility will be its “23rd data centre in the United States and 27th in the world. This custom-designed 4 million-square-foot campus will be our largest data centre to date. It will play a vital role in accelerating our AI progress.”

It comes after Meta earlier this week announced it was exploring the use of nuclear energy for its fleet of data centres in the United States. Other platforms are also exploring the use of nuclear, as the energy demand accelerates due to the intense power usage of generative artificial intelligence (AI) deployments in data centres.

Louisiana data centre

Meta confirmed it will invest more than $10 billion in the Richland Parish Data Centre, and will support over 500 operational jobs.

It said it will also investing over $200 million in local infrastructure improvements.

“We anticipate that more than 5,000 construction workers will be onsite at peak construction, and we will make a concerted effort to source labour and materials locally, and provide substantial contributions directly to the community,” Meta stated.

In addition, Meta said it will be contributing $1 million a year to Entergy’s customer assistance program, which provides bill payment assistance to low-income seniors and customers with disabilities.

And Meta was keen to tout the sustainability options for the new data centre, saying that together with its energy partner, Entergy, it is adding enough clean and renewable energy to the grid to cover 100 percent of the electricity use of its Richland Parish data centre, when it “bring at least 1,500 megawatts of new renewable energy to the grid.”

Meta also noted this new data centre, that will cover 2,250-acres, will use less water, and the firm has the global goal to be water positive in 2030, which means it will restore more water than it consumes.

Welcomed development

Meanwhile the announcement of the facility was welcomed by Governor Jeff Landry, who in a statement confirmed the project is expected to result in 500 or more direct new jobs, more than 1,000 indirect jobs and 5,000 construction workers at peak.

“Today, Louisiana begins a new chapter. Today, we are delivering new jobs and economic growth on a scale unimaginable before we took office,” Governor Jeff Landry said. “Meta’s investment establishes the region as an anchor in Louisiana’s rapidly expanding tech sector, revitalizes one of our state’s beautiful rural areas, and creates opportunities for Louisiana workers to fill high-paying jobs of the future.”

“I thank Meta for their commitment to our state, and to the State Legislature for positioning Louisiana to win this project by passing new tax reform legislation that attracts capital investment and improves Louisiana’s business tax climate,” said Landry.

“Meta is building the future of human connection and the technology that makes it possible. And this data centre will be an important part of that mission,” added Kevin Janda, Meta Director of Data Centre Strategy.

“Richland Parish in Louisiana is an outstanding location for Meta to call home for a number of reasons. It provides great access to infrastructure, a reliable grid, a business-friendly climate, and wonderful community partners that have helped us move this project forward,” said Janda. “We’re thrilled to be a new member of the Richland Parish community and are committed to investing in its long-term vitality.”