Mark Zuckerberg’s company, Meta, is planning to build a massive data center for artificial intelligence (AI) projects. Reports suggest the project could cost over $200 billion. If approved, this would be one of the largest investments in AI infrastructure.
Meta Explores Possible Locations
To move forward, Meta executives have informed data center developers about potential sites. The company is currently considering Louisiana, Wyoming, and Texas. Moreover, senior leaders have already visited these locations this month to assess their suitability.
Meta’s AI Spending vs. Rivals
At the same time, Zuckerberg announced last month that Meta would invest up to $65 billion this year to expand AI infrastructure. Meanwhile, Microsoft plans to spend $80 billion in 2025 on data centers. In contrast, Amazon expects to invest $100 billion, which is a significant increase from $75 billion in 2024.
Meta Faces Hiring Bias Lawsuit
On another front, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday that Meta must face a lawsuit over its hiring practices. As a result, three U.S. citizens have accused Meta of rejecting their job applications despite their qualifications. They claim the company favors foreign workers on H-1B visas to reduce labor costs. The plaintiffs, IT worker Purushothaman Rajaram, software engineer Ekta Bhatia, and data scientist Qun Wang, argue that Meta systematically preferred visa holders over American citizens.
Meta Denies Allegations
However, Meta has strongly denied the claims, calling them “baseless.” The company insists it did not discriminate and argues that it would not have hired the plaintiffs, regardless of their citizenship.
Even so, the judge dismissed Meta’s defense that 15% of its U.S. workforce holds H-1B visas, compared to just 0.5% of the overall workforce. Furthermore, the judge referred to Meta’s 2021 settlement, in which it paid $14.25 million to resolve allegations that it had excluded American workers in favor of foreign hires.
