The largest artificial intelligence data center ever built by Facebook's parent company Meta is coming to northeast Louisiana, bringing hopes that the $10 billion facility will transform an economically neglected corner of the state, reports the AP. Congressional leaders and local representatives from across the political spectrum heralded the facility as a boon for Richland parish, a rural part of Louisiana with a population of 20,000 historically reliant on agriculture. About one in four residents are considered to live in poverty, and the parish has an employment rate below 50%, according to the US census data.
Meta anticipates the data center, which will be completed in 2030, will create 500 operational jobs and 5,000 temporary construction jobs. At 4 million square feet, it will be the company's largest AI data center to date. Meta also plans to invest $200 million into road and water infrastructure improvements for the parish to offset its water usage, and Entergy, one of the nation's largest utilities providers, is fast-tracking plans to build three natural gas power plants in Louisiana for Meta's data center over a 15-year period. The Louisiana Public Service Commission is weighing Entergy's proposal as some environmental groups have opposed locking the state into more fossil fuel-based energy infrastructure. Meta said it plans to help bring 1,500 megawatts of renewable energy onto the grid in the future.
Louisiana residents may ultimately end up with rate increases to pay off the cost of operating these natural gas power plants when Meta's contract with Entergy expires, said Jessica Hendricks, state policy director for the Alliance for Affordable Energy. But public service commissioner Foster Campbell, who represents northeast Louisiana, said he does not believe the data center will increase rates for Louisianians and views it as vital for the region. "It's going in one of the most needed places in Louisiana and maybe one of the most needed places in the United States of America," Campbell said. "I'm for it 100%."
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Meanwhile, Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI, is expanding its existing supercomputer project in Memphis, Tennessee, the city's chamber of commerce said Wednesday. The chamber also said that Nvidia, Dell, and Supermicro Computer will be "establishing operations in Memphis," without offering further details. (More Meta stories.)
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