Meta Platforms(US:META) 财富FORTUNE·2026-02-14 10:08Core Insights - Meta has quietly acquired approximately 1,400 acres of land in Richland Parish, Louisiana, nearly double the size of Central Park in Manhattan, to expand its existing AI data center project, known as the Hyperion project [1][4] - The expansion reflects the rapid growth of AI infrastructure across the U.S., with major cloud service providers competing for land, power, and funding to build large-scale AI data centers [4][6] - Meta's financial preparations for the Hyperion project indicate a long-term, multi-phase development plan, with total development costs expected to reach $27 billion [5][6] Summary by Sections Acquisition Details - Meta's new land acquisition is adjacent to the existing Hyperion AI data center, which originally spans 2,250 acres, and the combined area will exceed twice the size of New Orleans' Louis Armstrong International Airport [1] - Construction activities have already begun on the newly acquired land, with indications that the purchase was made approximately three to four months ago [1] Project Scale and Employment - The Hyperion project is set to cost $10 billion and will cover over 4 million square feet, with plans for three new natural gas power plants to meet energy demands, costing an additional $3 billion [4] - The project currently employs over 3,700 construction workers, with expectations to increase to 5,000, and will create 500 long-term full-time jobs in the economically challenged area [4] Strategic Importance - Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg has emphasized the company's commitment to becoming a leader in AI infrastructure, with plans to build tens of gigawatts of computing power over the next decade [7] - The Hyperion project is a critical component of this strategy, aiming to secure the necessary computational power for developing advanced AI models [7]