Meta expands AI plans, increases investment in Texas to USD 10 billion

Meta is planning to invest USD 10 billion in a new data center. Scroll down to read the detailed story.

Meta has planned a great push into artificial intelligence by increasing its investment in a new data centre in West Texas, as reported by CNBC. The investment was initially USD 1.5 billion and has now reached USD 10 billion, which is almost Rs 83,000 crore. The move highlights how the tech giants are trying to build the infrastructure based on artificial intelligence during a time when global demand and competition are significantly rising. The data centre will be coming up in El Paso, Texas. It is likely to become functional by 2028 and will perform a significant role in the company’s future plans related to AI.

Investment jumps from USD 1.5 billion to USD 10 billion

The company of Mark Zuckerberg initially planned to invest USD 1.5 billion in the project. However, it has now increased the budget plan by almost six times. A properly designated facility is being established to reach the targeted 1 gigawatt capacity. This can make Meta one of the biggest AI infrastructure projects. This step also shows that the demand for AI computing power is quickly growing, which forces companies to scale up their investments at a faster rate.

The company said, “Since breaking ground last year, we have been proud to call El Paso home and are committed to being a good neighbor,” in a blog post on Thursday.

Expansion plans of Meta

The project of Meta is likely to create almost 300 permanent jobs, along with almost 4,000 construction workers involved in the peak development process. Meta also said that it will add more than 5,000 megawatts of clean energy to support the data centre.

Surge in AI Investments

Meta is quickly increasing its AI-based investments. This can also be witnessed for companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. However, Meta does not have a cloud business, which is one of the reasons that its heavy spending is being taken a look at by the investors.

Is Meta planning layoffs?

According to the reports, Meta is planning layoffs to cut its costs. The layoffs, as per reports, are happening in various teams, including Facebook, Sales, and the VR domain.

When the news of layoffs is circulating, the company is also expanding its data centre network with almost 30 facilities globally. Another point to note is that most of the facilities will remain in the United States.

The new data centre will be in El Paso, Texas, and it’s most likely to become functional by the year 2028.