In a game-changing announcement, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has declared that it will allocate hundreds of billions of dollars to construct colossal AI data centers in the United States. The first of these centers, named Prometheus, is set to launch in 2026 and will occupy a space nearly as expansive as Manhattan, covering approximately 59.1 square kilometers (22.8 square miles).
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s founder, revealed that they intend to build multiple multi-gigawatt clusters, including another ambitious project called Hyperion, planned for Louisiana with expectations to be operational by 2030. These projects fall under Meta's broader strategy to strive for "superintelligence," a technology promising capabilities far beyond human intellect.
This significant investment follows a record profit of over $160 billion that Meta generated in 2024, primarily through online advertising. Analysts suggest that Zuckerberg is aggressively aiming for the top tier in the AI field with this initiative. “The talent he is hiring will have access to some of the best AI hardware in the world,” commented Karl Freund, a leading analyst at Cambrian AI Research.
As the Meta shares experienced a minor uptick following the news and soared by over 20% this year, it’s worth noting that the energy and water demands of AI-driven data centers are immense. Future projections indicate that these facilities could consume 1.7 trillion gallons of water globally by 2027—a staggering figure that highlights the environmental implications of such developments.
