Key Takeaways
- Meta has dramatically expanded its El Paso, Texas AI data center budget from an initial $1.5 billion to $10 billion — representing more than a sixfold expansion
- The planned facility aims for 1 gigawatt of operational capacity with a projected 2028 completion date
- The company executed hundreds of workforce reductions across various departments on Wednesday
- Meta shares declined 8% Thursday following two courtroom decisions holding the platform accountable for youth user harm
- The company’s 2025 capital spending forecast reaches as high as $135 billion
Meta initiated construction on its El Paso data facility in October 2024 with an announced investment of $1.5 billion. The social media giant has now revealed a substantially larger commitment of $10 billion. The updated investment figure was disclosed by Gary Demasi, Meta’s VP of data center development, during his appearance at the annual Borderplex Alliance summit held in El Paso.
The infrastructure project occupies a 1.2 million square foot footprint and aims to deliver 1 gigawatt of processing power when operations commence in 2028. This marks Meta’s third data facility in the Lone Star State and joins approximately 30 facilities worldwide, with 26 located across the United States.
According to Meta, the construction phase will employ over 4,000 workers during peak periods, while the operational facility will generate 300 permanent positions.
The tech giant also disclosed contracted initiatives that will contribute over 5,000 megawatts of renewable energy to Texas’s power infrastructure. Responding to water consumption concerns that have emerged around AI data centers nationwide, Meta announced it’s implementing eight water restoration initiatives throughout Texas.
Among these efforts is a collaboration with nonprofit organization DigDeep, which will deliver clean running water access to more than 100 households for the first time. The facility will employ a closed-loop liquid cooling architecture that continuously recycles water, with Meta estimating total water consumption will match that of a standard regional golf facility.
Legal Setbacks Trigger Share Price Decline
Thursday’s 8% decline in META shares stemmed from two independent courtroom decisions finding the company responsible for damages to young platform users. These verdicts sparked investor concerns regarding possible modifications to the design frameworks underlying Meta’s advertising revenue engine.
Shares have now retreated 17% year-to-date. Unlike technology sector competitors Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, Meta lacks a cloud infrastructure division to balance its substantial AI capital requirements — a distinction that has intensified investor examination.
Meta announced in January that its 2025 capital expenditure budget would climb to $135 billion, positioning it among the largest investors in the ongoing AI infrastructure expansion. The broader technology sector is forecast to deploy over $630 billion toward AI infrastructure throughout this year.
Workforce Reductions Accompany Infrastructure Expansion
As the data center budget expands dramatically, Meta is simultaneously reducing employee headcount. The corporation acknowledged hundreds of position eliminations on Wednesday spanning Facebook, global operations, recruiting, sales operations, and its virtual reality business unit. A previous Reuters investigation suggested workforce reductions might impact 20% or more of total staff.
On the hardware procurement front, Meta secured significant semiconductor agreements with Nvidia and AMD in February and this week emerged as the inaugural confirmed purchaser for Arm’s latest data center processor architecture. The company additionally unveiled four new iterations of its proprietary MTIA AI accelerator chips.
Meta’s El Paso construction site received its most recent photographic documentation in March 2026, five months following the groundbreaking ceremony.
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