Meta Commits $1.5 Billion for AI Data Center in Texas
Meta Platforms has announced a $1.5 billion investment to build a new AI-driven data center in El Paso, Texas, marking its 29th facility worldwide and the third in the state. The project reflects Meta’s accelerated global push to expand its digital infrastructure and support the growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) workloads.
According to Meta, construction has already begun on the El Paso site, which is projected to become operational by 2028. Once completed, the facility will have the capacity to scale up to a 1-gigawatt site, a power threshold comparable to supplying an entire city the size of San Francisco for a full day. This will make it one of the largest planned data center campuses in the United States.
The move underscores Meta’s long-term strategy to build the next-generation backbone for AI innovation, a race currently dominated by major technology players including Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta itself. Industry data shows that these hyperscalers are expected to collectively invest over $360 billion in AI infrastructure by 2025, with much of that capital directed toward large-scale data centers.
Meta confirmed that the new facility will create around 100 permanent jobs when operational, supported by 1,800 construction workers during the building phase. The company highlighted El Paso’s strong electrical grid, renewable energy capabilities, and skilled workforce as decisive factors for choosing the location.
“Meta’s investment strengthens Texas’s position as a digital innovation hub,” said Jon Barela, CEO of the Borderplex Alliance, a local development group that worked to facilitate the project. “We’ve had others look at the region, and we expect more global companies to follow Meta’s lead.”
The El Paso project adds to Meta’s $10 billion investment portfolio in Texas, where it already employs more than 2,500 people. The company’s previous expansion efforts include major data center operations in Fort Worth and Temple.
In line with its sustainability goals, Meta stated that the new center will operate using 100% renewable energy. The site will feature a closed-loop, liquid-cooled system designed to continuously recycle water. The company also pledged to restore twice the amount of water consumed by the data center to local watersheds, exceeding its 2030 water-positive goal.
The $1.5 billion project follows Meta’s $29 billion off-balance-sheet funding deal with Pimco and Blue Owl for a separate data center campus in Louisiana, part of its broader effort to finance sustainable infrastructure across the U.S.
Analysts say Meta’s continued investment in AI data centers will play a central role in shaping the company’s future competitiveness in the rapidly evolving landscape of machine learning, cloud computing, and virtual reality ecosystems.
