Meta Finds New Home for Data Center in Northeast LA

Louisiana’s Department of Economic Development announced on December fourth, that the northeastern town of Richland, would be the site of the new ten billion dollar artificial intelligence data center. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram is behind the four million square foot technology campus.

Governor Landry is optimistic about the center’s economic opportunity implications. Telling the Louisiana Economic Development Department, “Meta’s investment establishes the region as an anchor in Louisiana’s rapidly expanding tech sector, revitalizes one of our state’s beautiful rural areas, and creates opportunities for Louisiana workers to fill high-paying jobs of the future.”

Critics disagree, concerned over the viability of the high paying jobs for Louisianians, citing a shaky commitment to domestic labor by Meta. Environmental risks are also at the forefront of the dissent. As experts predict the amount of energy needed to run these centers is estimated to be 14% of global emissions by 2040.  

Computing and Climate Impact Fellow at MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium, Noman Bashir explains, “What is different about generative AI is the power density it requires. Fundamentally, it is just computing, but a generative AI training cluster might consume seven or eight times more energy than a typical computing workload.” 

Despite these concerns, the Public Service Commission voted 4-1 on August 20th to approve the power plan for the data center. This was a crucial step to the development of the upcoming center. Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan B. Bourgeois said. “Louisiana has been actively positioning itself as a hub for AI innovation, with plans to support startups, grow a skilled workforce, and shape forward-thinking policy.”