Meta raises Louisiana AI data center plan to more than $50 billion

Meta said Monday it expects to invest more than $50 billion in its Hyperion artificial intelligence data center complex in Richland Parish, Louisiana, expanding the planned site to 5 gigawatts. The figure is sharply above the $27 billion disclosed in October, when Meta and Blue Owl Capital formed a joint venture to help build and manage a facility then described as 2 gigawatts.

The project is set to become Meta’s largest data center and is part of the company’s broader AI infrastructure programme. Meta’s update comes as the largest cloud and internet platforms increase spending on computing capacity for AI models, a capital-intensive race that has also drawn state-level tax and power incentives.

Louisiana has been central to the economics of the project. In late 2024, Republican Governor Jeff Landry signed a law creating a 20-year sales tax exemption for data centers built before 2029, a measure CNBC previously reported was part of the state’s effort to attract Meta. A sales tax exemption reduces the tax collected on qualifying data center activity covered by the law, lowering the effective cost of eligible investment for the company.

Landry is scheduled to hold a press event Monday in Baton Rouge. In an interview with CNBC last year, he defended the state’s approach. “I’m a business guy,” Landry said. “What we know is when you look at the overall comprehensive package here, it’s in the black. For local government, and the state, and how you get to the bottom line is irrespective to me.”

CNBC has reported that Meta and other hyperscale technology companies, including Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon, have been using tax rebates and energy agreements offered by states seeking investment tied to the AI buildout. These projects require large amounts of land, grid capacity and supporting infrastructure, giving state and local governments a role in shaping the final cost and location of new facilities.

Meta said in its Monday post that it pays the full cost of the energy, water and related infrastructure used by the Louisiana data center, so consumers are not charged for those costs. The company said local businesses have received more than $1.6 billion in contracts from Meta since construction began in December 2024.

The company also said the expansion will include more than $1 billion of investment in local infrastructure, including roads and water and wastewater systems. Meta did not name a financial partner for the expanded phase of the project.

The estimated cost of the Richland Parish site has risen several times. When the project began, the expected price was $10 billion. Roughly six months later, Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook that Hyperion would be able to scale to 5 gigawatts over several years.

AI superclusters differ from conventional data centers because they concentrate graphics processing units and advanced hardware designed to train and run AI workloads. Zuckerberg wrote that Meta Superintelligence Labs would have “industry-leading levels of compute and by far the greatest compute per researcher.”

A Meta spokesperson told CNBC that Hyperion is expected to reach 2 gigawatts by 2030. The company has not given a timetable for completing the full 5-gigawatt buildout.

The announcement follows Meta’s strongest week in the stock market since early 2024, according to CNBC, after the company released two major AI models under Alexandr Wang, head of Meta Superintelligence Labs. Investors have been watching whether Meta can show returns from its elevated AI spending.

This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.