Meta is planning to build a ten-billion-dollar artificial intelligence data centre in northeast Louisiana, USA.
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The enormous data centre, measuring four million square feet in area, is destined to be the largest of the company’s 27 data centres. It will be used to power AI systems, including Meta’s own Llama generative AI models.
The US tech giant and owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has made renewable energy pledges to the Fortune 500 energy company Entergy, as well as committing to invest over $200 million into the local infrastructure. The project remains shrouded in environmental controversy, however.
Louisiana’s Governor Jeff Landry announced the news alongside Secretary of LED Susan Bourgeois:
“Today, Louisiana begins a new chapter. Today, we are delivering new jobs and economic growth on a scale unimaginable before we took office.
“Meta’s investment establishes the region as an anchor in Louisiana’s rapidly expanding tech sector, revitalises 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.”
Powering Llama
An Instagram video post by Mark Zuckerberg revealed the data centre would create 2GW+ which would then enable it to train future versions of Llama.
In the same video, Zuckerberg said that Llama is on track to be most used AI model in the world, having already hit the milestone 600 million active users and nearly 650 million downloads.
Llama 3.3 is a new 70B perameter text model, which is easy and efficient to run and performs about as well as its Llama 3.1 405B model. Zuckerberg shared that its next stop will be Llama 4.
Environmental Concerns
Meta’s energy partner Entergy will provide power plants to meet the data centre’s power demands, which Meta has reportedly agreed to match with 100 percent clean and renewable energy. It will reportedly work with Entergy to bring a minimum of 1500 MW of renewable energy to the grid via its Geaux Zero program.
Meta has also pledged up to one million dollars per year towards Entergy’s ‘Thee Power to Care’ low-income support program.
Still, many remain unconvinced by Meta’s sustainability commitments. The Register points to the possibility that its decision to setup in Louisiana could be motivated by recent tax incentives, missing out on fossil-free alternatives available to the company.
Kevin Janda, Meta Director of Data Center Strategy, believes this is the ideal location for its new facility:
“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.
“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.
“We’re thrilled to be a new member of the Richland Parish community and are committed to investing in its long-term vitality.”
Meta expects building work to begin this month and continue through 2030.
