Meta announced Monday that its Hyperion data center project in Richland Parish, Louisiana will expand to a 5-gigawatt facility costing over $50 billion, significantly higher than the $27 billion figure revealed in October when Meta and Blue Owl Capital formed a joint venture for the site. The expansion reflects Meta's pursuit of AI infrastructure to meet demand as the company competes with Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon in the artificial intelligence buildout. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed a 20-year sales tax exemption for data centers built before 2029 in late 2024 as part of efforts to attract the project, with construction beginning in December 2024.
Meta Expands Hyperion Data Center to $50 Billion and 5 Gigawatts
Meta stated in a blog post Monday that the Richland Parish site will become the company's largest data center, expanding from the originally planned 2-gigawatt capacity announced in October. The October announcement detailed a joint venture between Meta and Blue Owl Capital to help with buildout and management of the facility. CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post roughly six months after the project began that the supercluster would "be able to scale up to 5GW over several years." The original estimated price tag when the project began was $10 billion.
Louisiana Provides 20-Year Sales Tax Exemption for Data Centers
Louisiana Republican Governor Jeff Landry signed into law a 20-year sales tax exemption for data centers built before 2029 in late 2024. "I'm a business guy," Landry told CNBC in an interview last year. "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." Landry is set to host a press event on Monday in Baton Rouge. States are competing to attract hyperscaler data center investments as Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon pursue multi-hundred-billion-dollar artificial intelligence buildouts.
Construction Delivers $1.6 Billion in Local Business Contracts
Since construction of the Louisiana data center began in December 2024, local businesses have received over $1.6 billion in contracts from Meta, the company said Monday. Meta stated in the blog post that "with this expansion, we will be investing over $1 billion in local infrastructure improvements, including roads, water and wastewater systems." The company added that it "pays the full costs of the energy, water, and related infrastructure the data center uses so consumers aren't paying the cost." Meta did not announce a financial partner for the expansion beyond the existing Blue Owl Capital joint venture.
Meta Targets 2-Gigawatt Capacity by 2030
A Meta spokesperson told CNBC that the Hyperion project should reach 2 gigawatts by 2030. The company provided no timeline for when the full 5-gigawatt project will be completed. The announcement followed Meta's release of two major AI models under the leadership of AI chief Alexandr Wang, head of Meta Superintelligence Labs. Zuckerberg wrote that "Meta Superintelligence Labs will have industry-leading levels of compute and by far the greatest compute per researcher." Unlike traditional data centers, superclusters are packed with graphics processing units and related cutting-edge hardware tailored for AI workloads.
FAQ
What is the total investment for Meta's Louisiana data center expansion?
Meta announced Monday that the Hyperion data center project in Richland Parish, Louisiana will cost over $50 billion, up from the $27 billion figure revealed in October when Meta and Blue Owl Capital formed a joint venture for the site.
What tax incentives did Louisiana provide for Meta's data center?
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed a 20-year sales tax exemption for data centers built before 2029 in late 2024. Meta stated it pays the full costs of energy, water, and related infrastructure the data center uses so consumers are not paying the cost.
When will Meta's Louisiana data center reach full capacity?
A Meta spokesperson told CNBC the Hyperion project should reach 2 gigawatts by 2030. The company provided no timeline for when the full 5-gigawatt project will be completed.
