Meta's Louisiana AI data center grows to 5GW at $50B cost. Teacher bonuses reach $50K. The project adds to record AI infrastructure spending across Big Tech.
Meta Platforms is more than doubling the size of its Louisiana AI data center, a 4 million-square-foot site announced in December 2024, pushing the project's cost above $50 billion. The company said Monday its Hyperion campus in Richland Parish will expand to 5 gigawatts of compute capacity, up from the 2 gigawatts announced when it broke ground with investment firm Blue Owl Capital.
The expansion has already generated steep local economic returns. Tax revenue from the data center funded year-end bonuses of up to $50,000 for teachers in the parish, which has about 20,000 residents. That is four times the $10,000 each teacher received a year earlier, and 400% higher than the prior year, according to Meta. The company said the increased tax revenues made the bonuses possible. Jones described the bonuses as "life-altering for our teachers and their families" in a statement.
Sheldon Jones, the parish's school district superintendent, said the money is changing the community.
Jones said Meta's investment has made Richland Parish "a destination for education as well as industry." He did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
Meta said in its blog post that the data center has fueled "life-changing returns" for local businesses too. Louisiana companies have received more than $1.6 billion in contracts since construction started in December 2024. The company plans to spend over $1 billion on local road and water improvements. Meta said it pays the full costs of the energy and water the data center uses, so consumers are not subsidizing the facility.
Meta's capital expenditures have ballooned in the last two years, driven by AI infrastructure costs. The $50 billion Louisiana expansion follows similar multi-billion-dollar projects by Microsoft and Google. The announcement gives a fresh data point for Wall Street investors tracking Meta's AI spending plans. The rapid buildout has drawn criticism from environmental groups and local residents over energy demand and water use. Meta says it covers all energy and water costs to avoid passing costs to consumers.
The site, known as Hyperion, is among the largest single investments in AI infrastructure worldwide, Meta said. The expansion adds to a wave of large data center projects that are affecting industrial real estate and power grids. The hyper-scale facilities require enormous amounts of electricity and water, raising concerns about grid reliability and resource allocation in rural areas.
Meta said the Hyperion campus will create more than 1,000 jobs once operational. It has not disclosed a completion date.
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