Meta expands Hyperion AI supercluster to 5 GW in Louisiana, total investment tops $50 billion

Meta has announced plans to expand its Hyperion data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana, from an initial 2 GW to 5 GW of compute capacity, bringing the company's total planned investment in the region to more than $50 billion. The announcement, made in an official blog post on Monday, July 13, confirms the long-anticipated scale-up of what is already Meta's largest data center.

Expansion Details

The expansion represents a significant increase over the $10 billion, 4-million-square-foot project Meta unveiled in December 2024, which was originally expected to deliver more than 2 GW of capacity. However, the 5 GW target is not entirely new — CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated in July 2025 that Hyperion would eventually reach that scale. Monday's announcement formally ties the expanded capacity to an investment exceeding $50 billion and provides updated figures for jobs, contracts, and public infrastructure spending.

Local Economic Impact

Much of the announcement focuses on the project's local economic benefits:

• Local Louisiana businesses have received more than $1.6 billion in contracts since construction began
• Teacher bonuses in Richland Parish rose from $10,000 last year to more than $50,000 this year, funded by increased tax revenue tied to the data center

Infrastructure and Energy Investments

In what appears to be an effort to address anti-data-center sentiment, Meta said it plans to invest over $1 billion in local infrastructure improvements, including roads, water, and wastewater systems, as part of the expansion.

The company's recent agreement with utility Entergy Louisiana includes:

• Natural-gas plants providing more than 5.2 GW of capacity
• Support for up to 2.5 GW of new solar generation

Entergy claims Meta's payments could save other customers around $2 billion over 20 years — a significant reprieve amid concerns over data centers' impact on residents' electricity bills — although those savings remain projections.

State and Local Support

The project is also receiving substantial government backing. In late 2024, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed into law a 20-year sales tax exemption for data centers built before 2029, part of an explicit effort to court Meta. The law allows qualifying data centers to claim sales-and-use-tax exemptions on eligible equipment.

Additionally, Meta is expected to benefit from:

• The state's Quality Jobs program
• A payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement that could reduce its property-tax burden if investment and employment targets are met

Project Background

First announced as a $10 billion project in December 2024, Hyperion is Meta's AI supercluster campus in Richland Parish, Louisiana. The data center will house the infrastructure needed to train and run Meta's future AI models, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg linking it directly to Meta Superintelligence Labs, the company's AI division.

In October 2025, Meta and Blue Owl Capital announced a joint venture valuing the project's buildings and infrastructure at roughly $27 billion. Blue Owl holds about 80% of the venture, with Meta retaining 20% and leasing the completed facilities. The July 13 announcement raises Meta's total planned investment in the region to more than $50 billion but provides no further details on how the expansion affects the joint venture.

Broader Context

Hyperion is one node in a much larger spending plan. Meta is forecast to spend up to $145 billion in capital expenditures in 2026, mostly on AI infrastructure, as demand for AI compute continues to outstrip supply. The company has said it will cut 8,000 jobs to raise funds.

Monday's announcement follows what Meta says was its strongest week on the market since early 2024, driven by new AI model releases.