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Tech giants continue to fuel the artificial intelligence boom, with Meta starting a $10 billion investment in data centers in the Bayou State, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said during a news conference Wednesday.
The parent company of Facebook and Instagram selected New York City-based Turner Construction, Redwood City, California-based DPR and Minneapolis-based Mortenson to build the multibillion-dollar data center in Richland Parish, near of Monroe, Louisiana, according to the news release.
The facility will span 4 million square feet and ranks as Meta’s largest investment to date in its AI portfolio, according to Meta.
“This data center in Richland Parish will play a critical role in advancing Meta’s overall AI efforts,” said Kevin Janda, Meta’s director of data center infrastructure. “This data center will be optimized for our AI workloads and will be the largest data center in our fleet.”
Meta’s investment reflects a broader Increased construction of data centersdriven by growing demand for digital infrastructure and AI capabilities. Big tech companies are slated to deploy more than $180 billion in data centers and related infrastructure this year, according to research firm Dell’Oro Group.
Meta said that at peak construction, more than 5,000 construction workers will be employed on the project.
“Meta, in partnership with Turner, DPR and Mortenson, will host informational fairs early this year for interested trade workers and contractors,” Turner CEO Ben Kaplan said in a separate press release. “Please follow each of our company Facebook pages for updates.”
Meta also plans to invest $200 million in local road and water improvements, Janda said, and will add enough clean, renewable energy to the grid to cover 100 percent of the facility’s electricity use.
As part of the data center plans, Entergy, a New Orleans-based energy company, is seeking approval from the Louisiana Public Service Commission to build at least 1,500 megawatts of new renewable energy to serve the facility , Janda said.
