Meta Adds $40 Billion to Expand Hyperion Data Center, Building 5GW World’s Largest AI Computing Hub

TradingKey - On Monday, Meta ( META) announced it will invest an additional $40 billion in the Hyperion data center in Louisiana, bringing the total investment in the project to over $50 billion and making it one of the largest AI infrastructure projects in the world.

Located in Richland Parish, Louisiana, the Hyperion data center was initially announced in 2024 with a planned investment of $10 billion and a building footprint of approximately 4 million square feet. Following this expansion, the total investment scale has been raised to up to $50 billion, with computing capacity set to reach 5 gigawatts across an area of over 3,200 acres, equivalent to four times the size of New York's Central Park. The project is expected to be fully completed by 2036, at which point it will serve as a core hub for Meta's deployment of AI computing infrastructure.

To support this hyperscale data center, Meta has reached a comprehensive energy supply agreement with local energy company Entergy.

Under the agreement, Meta will bear the full cost of constructing 10 power generation facilities, including seven new natural gas power plants and three already-planned plants. The total power generation capacity is expected to exceed 7 gigawatts, equivalent to increasing Louisiana's overall grid capacity by more than 30%.

In addition to natural gas power, the two parties will also cooperate to advance up to 2.5 gigawatts of renewable energy projects, construct approximately 240 miles of transmission lines, and deploy battery energy storage systems, while also signing a memorandum of understanding to explore the future introduction of nuclear energy.

Meta stated that it will bear the full cost of the energy, water resources, and related infrastructure used by the data center to avoid passing construction costs on to local residents.

The construction of the Hyperion data center will bring significant economic and social impacts to Louisiana. The project is expected to create approximately 7,500 construction jobs, provide 1,000 permanent jobs once fully operational, and is scheduled for full completion by 2036.

Meta also announced that it will invest approximately $1 billion in local infrastructure upgrades, including roads, water supply, and wastewater treatment, and provide over $5 million in support to local educational institutions, including a $5 million donation to Louisiana Delta Community College to train data center-related technical talent.

Meanwhile, Meta has also received substantial tax incentives from the state government. If it creates 300 permanent jobs with an annual salary of no less than $93,000 by 2032, it will receive a 60% local property tax abatement, which will further increase to 80% if the number of jobs increases to 500.

The expansion of the Hyperion data center is an important component of Meta's overall AI strategy. With the rapid development of AI technology, the demand for computing power is growing exponentially, and the Hyperion data center will provide robust computing support for Meta's AI research, development, and application.