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Meta’s planned AI data center in Louisiana to cost $50b: Trump
Meta is building its largest data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana, which is expected to support AI workloads and other digital infrastructure.
US President Donald Trump said the facility will cost US$50 billion, during a cabinet meeting on August 26, 2025.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, did not comment on Trump’s statement regarding the data center’s cost.
🔗 Source: Reuters
🧠 Food for thought
1️⃣ AI data centers require unprecedented infrastructure investments
Meta’s Louisiana project demonstrates the massive infrastructure requirements of modern AI computing facilities.
The data center will consume twice the electricity of New Orleans, a city of nearly 400,000 people, requiring Entergy to construct three new gas-fired power plants specifically for this facility 1.
The scale extends beyond energy: the 2,250-acre site with over 4 million square feet represents the largest data center construction project in North America 2.
These infrastructure demands reflect the computational intensity of training large language models, where Meta’s facility will provide over 2 gigawatts of computing capacity, expandable to 5 gigawatts 1.
The project highlights how AI development has moved beyond software optimization to require significant changes in energy generation and distribution infrastructure.
2️⃣ Tech companies now finance energy infrastructure to secure AI computing capacity
Meta’s commitment to pay the power costs of three new gas plants for the first 15 years reveals how tech companies are directly funding energy infrastructure 1.
This arrangement goes beyond traditional utility partnerships, with Meta essentially subsidizing the construction and initial operation of power generation facilities.
The deal structure reflects the critical importance of guaranteed power supply for AI operations, where computing interruptions can cost millions in wasted training cycles.
Louisiana’s 20-year sales tax exemption on data center equipment, combined with Meta’s power plant financing commitment, demonstrates the substantial public-private partnerships now required to secure major data center investments 2.
