According to a person familiar with the subject, Meta Platforms is behind a projected $1 billion worth of central Wisconsin data center expansion.
The initiative fits nicely with a larger drive by big technology companies to increase infrastructure for artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
As reported by Bloomberg, Wisconsin authorized an incentive package for a corporation running under an alias in February linked to a potential multiyear investment of $837 million. Although official records did not reveal the company’s identity, a source aware of the preparations verified that Meta is spearheading the effort.
Declining to confirm the company’s identity, Meta and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation cited continuing processes.
As demand for compute-intensive artificial intelligence models and cloud services keeps growing, technology firms have sped data center development in recent years. With a heavy focus on artificial intelligence, Meta has earlier revealed ambitions to commit up to $65 billion to infrastructure. That covers US new building projects including a multi-phase complex in Louisiana. Currently building a site in Wyoming, the business already runs data centers in Midwestern sites like Iowa and DeKalb, Illinois.
An story from The Information claims that Meta is also looking at building a sizable artificial intelligence data center complex somewhere in the US with up to $200 billion in investment. Executives apparently inspected possible sites in Wyoming, Texas, and Louisiana. Although a spokesman claimed that anything beyond revealed capital expenditure estimates is speculative, CEO Mark Zuckerberg pointed out that the business intends to bring 1 gigawatt of computation online in 2024 and expects to run more than 1.3 million GPUs by the end of 2025.
The company’s verified plans call for a $10 billion data center campus in Richland Parish, Louisiana, where the build-out is projected to reach 2 gigabytes of computing capacity over more than 4 million square feet. Project ground breaking was set for late 2024, and building would last until 2030. Near Cheyenne, a separate complex spanning 800,000 square feet is under development in Wyoming on a 945-acre plot.
The Wisconsin site would contribute to the tsunami of massive infrastructure projects under way. Recent market signals, however, have begged concerns about the sustainability of the present rate of increase. Microsoft has lately postponed or stopped many data center projects; some analysts have pointed to cheaper AI models and trade-related uncertainty – like tariffs – as elements influencing future build-out strategies.
From ad targeting and content ranking on Facebook and Instagram to hardware goods like Meta Quest headphones and the smart glasses the firm developed with Ray-Ban, Meta is using artificial intelligence in many facets of its business. In January, Zuckerberg informed investors that Meta’s long-term AI expenditure might eventually amount to hundreds of billions of dollars.
One prospective hotspot for hyperscale data centers is Wisconsin. Apart from Meta, Microsoft is building a facility south of Milwaukee, maybe among its biggest. The Stargate project by OpenAI also names Wisconsin as one of the states under discussion for development.
Local government leaders have embraced the possible outlay. The Beaver Dam Area Development Corporation characterized the project in a February update as one having long-term economic value for the area. Having already approved construction and water agreements, the organization said it is collaborating with utility provider Alliant Energy. Before moving forward, the initiative still needs non-local authorization.
Alliant Energy verified that it is investigating a project in Beaver Dam and is now following due diligence procedures. More specifics would be revealed once the process advances, according a spokesman.
