Key Highlights
- Meta’s El Paso, Texas AI data center budget expanded from $1.5 billion to $10 billion — representing a sevenfold increase
- The facility aims for 1 gigawatt of capacity with an anticipated 2028 opening date
- The company announced workforce reductions affecting hundreds of employees across various divisions on Wednesday
- META shares declined 8% Thursday following two court rulings that held the company accountable for youth user harm
- The company’s 2025 capital expenditure forecast reaches up to $135 billion
Meta initiated construction on its El Paso data center in October 2024, initially committing $1.5 billion to the project. The investment has since climbed to $10 billion. Gary Demasi, serving as Meta’s VP of data center development, shared this updated investment figure during the annual Borderplex Alliance summit held in El Paso.
The campus occupies 1.2 million square feet and aims to achieve 1 gigawatt of capacity when operations begin in 2028. This facility marks the company’s third data center location in Texas and joins approximately 30 facilities worldwide, with 26 situated across the United States.
According to Meta, the development will employ over 4,000 construction workers during peak building phases and generate 300 long-term positions after becoming operational.
Meta has additionally committed to contracted projects that will deliver more than 5,000 megawatts of renewable energy to Texas’s power grid. Responding to water usage concerns that have emerged around AI data center developments nationwide, Meta is implementing eight water restoration initiatives throughout Texas.
These initiatives include collaboration with nonprofit organization DigDeep to provide clean running water access to over 100 residences for the first time. The facility will employ a closed-loop liquid cooling system designed for water recycling, with Meta estimating water consumption levels similar to a standard regional golf course.
Legal Rulings Pressure Share Price
The 8% decline in META shares on Thursday stemmed from two distinct court judgments finding the company responsible for harm affecting young platform users. These verdicts sparked investor concerns regarding possible modifications to design approaches underpinning Meta’s advertising operations.
Shares have fallen 17% year-to-date. Meta differs from competitors like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft by lacking a cloud infrastructure division to balance its substantial AI expenditures — a distinction that has attracted heightened investor attention.
Meta announced in January that its 2025 capital expenditures would climb to $135 billion, positioning the company among the largest investors in current AI infrastructure development. Big Tech companies collectively plan to allocate over $630 billion toward AI infrastructure throughout this year.
Workforce Reductions Accompany Infrastructure Expansion
As data center investments expand, Meta is reducing its employee count. The company acknowledged on Wednesday that hundreds of positions were eliminated across Facebook, global operations, recruiting, sales, and its virtual reality segment. A prior Reuters report indicated potential workforce reductions affecting 20% or more of staff.
Regarding hardware procurement, Meta secured significant chip agreements with Nvidia and AMD in February, and this week became the inaugural confirmed client for Arm’s latest data center processor. The company also unveiled four new iterations of its proprietary MTIA AI accelerators recently.
Meta’s El Paso facility was most recently photographed in March 2026, five months following the groundbreaking ceremony.
