Meta Expands Data Center Investment
Technology giant Meta Platforms is expanding its investment in El Paso, Texas, committing $1.5 billion for a new artificial intelligence–optimized data center. The project will employ about 100 full-time workers and occupy a 1,000-acre site near the Texas–New Mexico border.
The expanded plan marks a major leap from Meta’s original $800 million investment announced in late 2023. The new facility will handle massive AI workloads and help power global connectivity for billions of users.
AI Growth Fuels the Decision
Meta officials said the decision to expand followed rapid advances in AI and rising demand for large-scale data capacity.
“What you’re seeing here is us having to grow with the needs of our business,” Brad Davis, Meta’s director of data center community and economic development, told El Paso Matters.
“Everything that is ultimately needed with Meta and, frankly, everything that’s needed online, is driven by data centers. They’re the backbone that makes everything in modern society possible, allows us to connect billions of people across the world,” Davis said. “This growth that you’re seeing, a lot of it is driven by AI. This data center itself will be optimized for AI workloads.”
Regional Competition for AI Infrastructure
The announcement comes just a month after Doña Ana County approved a separate $165 billion data center campus by OpenAI and Oracle. The El Paso region is fast becoming one of the nation’s key tech corridors, drawing massive investments in AI infrastructure and renewable energy integration to support electricity needs.
Oklahoma energy developers are closely watching. The state’s own Google Pryor data center expansion shows how AI-related projects can drive both energy demand and infrastructure investment. Analysts expect Oklahoma to attract similar data operations as companies seek reliable energy and central logistics locations.
Meta’s new El Paso data center reinforces a national trend—AI growth is reshaping how and where companies build their energy-intensive computing facilities.
SOURCE: El Paso Matters– Rewritten by Oklahoma Energy Today for clarity
