Meta expands Louisiana data center to 5 gigawatts compute capacity

July 13 : Meta said on Monday its data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana will expand to 5 gigawatts of compute capacity, in a bid to support the social media company's AI ambitions. Since breaking ground in December 2024, local Louisiana businesses have received more than $1.6 billion in contracts from Meta, the company said.Here are some details:• Meta said that the data center expansion is an investment of more than $50 billion in the Richland Parish region. • Last year, U.S. President Donald Trump had said the company's data center project would cost $50 billion.• With this expansion, the company said it plans to invest over $1 billion in local infrastructure improvements, including roads, water and wastewater systems.• Meta, like its Big Tech peers, has been pouring billions of doll