Key Highlights
- Meta’s El Paso, Texas AI data center investment has surged from $1.5 billion to $10 billion—representing more than a sixfold expansion
- The complex is designed to deliver 1 gigawatt of power capacity with an anticipated 2028 launch date
- The social media giant announced hundreds of workforce reductions across various divisions on Wednesday
- Meta stock plummeted 8% Thursday following two court decisions holding the company responsible for youth user harm
- The company’s 2025 capital spending forecast reaches as high as $135 billion
Meta broke ground on its El Paso data facility in October 2024 with an initial investment of $1.5 billion. The budget has now exploded to $10 billion. The updated investment figure was disclosed by Gary Demasi, Meta’s VP overseeing data center development, during the annual Borderplex Alliance summit held in El Paso.
The campus spans 1.2 million square feet and aims to achieve 1 gigawatt of power capacity when operations commence in 2028. This marks Meta’s third data center facility in Texas and joins approximately 30 installations worldwide, with 26 located across the United States.
According to Meta, the development will employ over 4,000 construction personnel during peak building phases and generate 300 full-time positions after becoming operational.
The tech giant revealed it has contracted projects that will contribute over 5,000 megawatts of renewable energy to Texas’s power infrastructure. Addressing water consumption concerns that have plagued AI data center developments nationwide, Meta announced eight water restoration initiatives throughout Texas.
Among these efforts is a collaboration with nonprofit organization DigDeep that will bring clean running water access to more than 100 households for the first time. The new installation will utilize a closed-loop liquid cooling architecture that recycles water, with Meta estimating water consumption comparable to a standard regional golf course.
Legal Setbacks Drive Share Price Down
Thursday’s 8% decline in META shares stemmed from two separate legal judgments finding the company liable for damages to young platform users. These decisions sparked investor anxiety regarding possible modifications to the design strategies underlying Meta’s advertising revenue model.
Shares have fallen 17% year-to-date. Unlike competitors such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, Meta lacks a cloud infrastructure division to balance its substantial AI expenditures—a reality that has attracted heightened investor skepticism.
Meta announced in January that its 2025 capital outlays would climb to $135 billion, positioning the company among the largest investors in the ongoing AI infrastructure expansion. Big Tech companies collectively are forecast to allocate over $630 billion toward AI infrastructure throughout this year.
Workforce Reductions Continue Amid Spending Surge
As data center budgets expand, Meta is simultaneously reducing its workforce. The company acknowledged hundreds of job eliminations on Wednesday spanning Facebook, global operations, recruiting, sales, and its virtual reality unit. A previous Reuters report suggested layoffs might impact 20% or more of employees.
On the hardware front, Meta secured significant chip supply agreements with Nvidia and AMD in February and this week emerged as the inaugural confirmed customer for Arm’s latest data center processor. The company also recently unveiled four new iterations of its proprietary MTIA AI accelerator chips.
Meta’s El Paso construction site was most recently photographed in March 2026, five months following the groundbreaking ceremony.
