(Bloomberg) — Meta Platforms is constructing a brand new gigawatt-sized knowledge middle in Texas to advance its AI efforts, the newest in a string of great investments by the corporate because it seems to be to maintain tempo within the aggressive AI business.
The Instagram guardian will spend greater than $1.5 billion on the brand new facility, which is being in-built El Paso, Texas, the corporate stated in a blog post Wednesday. The info middle will ultimately have 1 gigawatt of capability to energy high-end computing chips for AI-related initiatives, in accordance with the put up. It’s anticipated to return on-line in 2028, an organization spokesperson stated.
Meta has been spending aggressively on AI infrastructure and expertise alongside rivals like OpenAI and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, all of that are creating top-of-the-line AI fashions. Meta earlier this yr introduced a serious knowledge middle challenge in Louisiana, nicknamed “Hyperion,” which President Donald Trump stated may price as a lot as $50 billion.
Meta has raised $29 billion for that challenge from Pacific Funding Administration Firm and Blue Owl Capital, and the corporate is constructing different gigawatt-sized knowledge facilities, together with one in Ohio known as “Prometheus.”
Synthetic intelligence has change into a key focus for the corporate, which makes use of the know-how to energy its chatbot and in addition serve individuals related movies and commercials on Instagram and Fb. Chief Govt Officer Mark Zuckerberg has said that private AI assistants shall be “one of the crucial essential and beneficial companies” ever created.
Meta will spend as a lot as $72 billion this yr in capital expenditures, together with AI-related infrastructure initiatives. Zuckerberg has defended the aggressive spending, arguing that it’s higher to over-spend than under-spend in relation to AI.
“There’s a significant probability that quite a lot of the businesses are overbuilding now,” he told Bloomberg in 2024. “However on the flip aspect, I really suppose all the businesses which might be investing are making a rational determination, as a result of the draw back of being behind is that you just’re out of place for, like, an important know-how for the following 10 to fifteen years.”
Individually, semiconductor know-how supplier Arm Holdings Plc stated Wednesday that it’s extending its partnership with Meta. The 2 have agreed on a multi-year settlement below which they’ll increase on their efforts to co-design software program and {hardware}.
Meta will use Arm’s Neoverse blueprint for knowledge middle chips, which ought to present higher efficiency and use much less energy than rival choices based mostly on Intel know-how, the 2 stated in a press release.
Arm’s inventory rose as a lot as 3.5% following the announcement in New York buying and selling earlier than later erasing most of these positive aspects.
