Inside Meta’s New 1GW Data Centre in El Paso to Power AI

Meta is building a new data centre in El Paso, Texas, optimised for AI.

The facility will eventually scale to 1GW of capacity, powering Meta's AI workloads and its mission to develop superintelligence.

The El Paso site is Meta's 29th data centre globally and its third in Texas.

The project is developed with The Borderplex Alliance, the area's economic development agency, to support local employment and tech growth.

The initial phase is an investment of more than US$1.5bn. Meta says construction will support around 1,800 jobs at its peak, with the facility creating 100 operational roles once complete.

Rachel Peterson, Vice President of Data Centres at Meta, says Meta is focused on building AI compute infrastructure to "fuel the future of personal superintelligence".

She adds that the El Paso site represents "more momentum as we break ground on our next AI-optimised data centre".

Building for AI advancement

The El Paso data centre will be a central hub for Meta's AI research. It is designed to be flexible, supporting a wide array of computing configurations for both current and future AI systems.

The facility will house traditional servers and next-generation AI hardware to manage demands from inference and training.

“This will be a powerhouse data centre optimised to support our growing AI workloads and will be essential to bringing our technologies to life,” Meta's announcement states.

Meta confirms the data centre can scale to 1GW and "represents an important moment as we invest in our AI work".

Meta's data centres form the foundation of its products, enabling applications like live translation and AI-driven business tools.

Strategic investment and economic impact

El Paso is chosen for its infrastructure, skilled workforce and location. The project is expected to bring long-term economic benefits through job creation and local investment.

Meta will also extend its Community Accelerator programme to El Paso, helping small businesses develop digital skills. Meta will introduce its Community Action Grants next year to fund local initiatives.

This project expands Meta’s existing presence in Texas, where it invests more than US$10bn and employs more than 2,500 full-time staff.

“Meta is proud to call Texas home for the past decade,” Rachel explains.

“Our announcement with El Paso carries this investment forward – and marks an important milestone in our AI ambitions.”

Texas Governor Greg Abbott, says: “Texas is the hub of innovation. Meta’s US$1.5bn investment in El Paso further cements our great state as the nation’s leader in artificial intelligence.”

Prioritising sustainability and efficiency

Sustainability is a core component of the El Paso project.

The facility is designed to achieve LEED Gold certification for its energy efficiency, renewable power use and water conservation.

Meta plans to use a closed-loop liquid-cooled system that requires zero water for much of the year.

As part of its goal to become water positive by 2030, Meta will restore 200% of the water consumed by the data centre to local watersheds.

This will be achieved through partnerships with DigDeep and the Texas Water Action Collaborative.

The El Paso site will also match all its electricity consumption with 100% renewable energy. Meta finances new grid infrastructure with El Paso Electric to support the data centre’s connection.

Brad Davis, Director of Data Centre Community & Economic Development at Meta, says: “We choose El Paso as the home for our next data centre for a variety of reasons, including strong talent, robust energy resources and great community partners.”