Meta Louisiana data center investment reaches $50 billion amid AI push

Meta’s The massive Hyperion data center project in rural Louisiana is getting bigger and costlier with major support from the state government.

The site in Richland Parish, Louisiana, that will house Meta’s largest data center will be a 5GW facility and cost more than $50 billion, the company said in a blog post Monday. This happened in October with Meta and Blue Owl Capital It formed a joint venture to help build and manage the facility, which was originally planned as a 2GW data centre.

As Meta continues its hundreds of billions of dollars of AI development, the company and its hyperscaler rivals Microsoft, Alphabet And Amazon They are taking advantage of tax breaks and energy deals offered by states vying for a piece of the AI ​​boom.

In late 2024, Louisiana Republican Governor Jeff Landry law A. 20-year sales tax exemption for data centers built before 2029 as part of the state’s effort to take Meta to court, CNBC previously reported. Landry will host a press event in Baton Rouge on Monday.

“I’m a businessman,” Landry said in an interview with CNBC last year. “What we know is that when you look at the comprehensive comprehensive package here, everything is in black. From a local government and state perspective and how you come to your conclusion, it doesn’t matter to me.”

Meta is expanding the project as it works to build enough AI infrastructure to meet demand. The announcement comes after Meta had its best week on the stock market since early 2024, following the launch of two major AI models led by AI chief Alexandr Wang, president of Meta Super Intelligence Labs. Investors expect the company to start showing returns from its large-scale AI investments.

Meta said in Monday’s post that the company “pays all costs for the energy, water, and related infrastructure the data center uses, so consumers do not pay the cost.” The company said local businesses have received more than $1.6 billion in contracts from Meta since construction of the Louisiana data center began in December 2024.

“With this expansion, we will invest over $1 billion in local infrastructure improvements, including roads, water and wastewater systems,” Meta said in the post. The company did not announce a financial partner for the expansion.

When project startedThe estimated price tag was $10 billion. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Facebook: to post About six months later, it was said that the supercluster, called Hyperion, “could scale up to 5GW within a few years.” Unlike traditional data centers, superclusters are filled with graphics processing units and associated cutting-edge hardware specifically designed for AI workloads.

“Meta Superintelligence Labs will have industry-leading levels of computing and by far the highest computation per researcher,” Zuckerberg wrote.

A Meta spokesperson told CNBC that the Hyperion project should reach 2GW by 2030, but there is no timeline for when the entire 5GW project will be completed.

WRISTWATCH: The commodity recovery is expected to continue through July.