Bayou Brains: Meta commits $50B to Louisiana AI data center in superintelligence push

Meta’s planned artificial intelligence data center in Louisiana will cost $50 billion, according to President Donald Trump, who revealed the figure during a Tuesday cabinet meeting. The facility in Richland Parish represents Meta’s largest data center project and highlights the company’s massive financial commitment to AI infrastructure as it pursues superintelligence capabilities.

What you should know: Meta is building its largest data center in rural Louisiana’s Richland Parish, designed to handle intense computational workloads for AI applications.

• The company has secured $29 billion in financing through U.S. bond giant PIMCO and alternative asset manager Blue Owl Capital to support the expansion.
• Meta initially announced plans last year to spend over $10 billion on the data center, though Trump’s $50 billion figure suggests significantly expanded scope or costs.
• Meta declined to comment when asked about Trump’s remarks regarding the project’s price tag.

The bigger picture: The Louisiana data center is part of Meta’s broader strategic pivot toward superintelligence following organizational changes and mixed reception to recent AI models.

• CEO Mark Zuckerberg said last month that Meta would spend “hundreds of billions of dollars” to build several massive AI data centers for its Superintelligence initiative.
• The company reorganized its AI efforts under Superintelligence Labs in June, a high-stakes restructuring that followed senior staff departures and lukewarm reception to its latest open-source Llama 4 model.

Why this matters: Meta’s massive infrastructure investment underscores the escalating capital requirements for companies competing in the AI arms race.

• The project intensifies Zuckerberg’s pursuit of superintelligence technology, including a talent war for top engineers in the field.
• The rural Louisiana location demonstrates how AI data centers are spreading beyond traditional tech hubs, bringing significant economic investment to less developed regions.