Zuckerberg Announces that Meta Will Build a Data Center the Size of Manhattan in Its Latest Push for AI while Musk Responds «Rookie Numbers»
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Mark Zuckerberg has pushed progressive agendas while accumulating immeasurable economic power. Now, Meta, Zuckerberg’s company, is accelerating its bet on artificial intelligence (AI) with ambitious plans that highlight the hypocrisy of the left: they promote environmentalism, but consume massive resources.
Based on exhaustive research, this article details the announcement of a huge data center in Louisiana, its energy and economic implications, and the response from Elon Musk, who sees it as insufficient in the fierce competition for AI.
Meta (Mark Zuckerberg’s company) is building an AI data center in a rural area of Louisiana that is projected to require approximately three times more electricity than the entire city of New Orleans consumes in a year.
In July 2025, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta will build the Hyperion data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana, a project that illustrates its drive for AI.
To emphasize its scale, Zuckerberg used a graphic that overlays the center on Manhattan, covering a significant portion of the 22-square-mile island, although the actual site spans approximately 3 square miles with 11 buildings totaling more than 4 million square feet.
This center, part of a total investment of up to 70 billion dollars in AI infrastructure for 2025, could expand to 5 gigawatts of capacity, with an initial projected consumption of 2 gigawatts by 2030.
This equates to three times the annual electrical usage of New Orleans, raising concerns about energy sustainability in a rural region.Meta justifies this expansion as essential to advance AI models like Llama, with the goal of achieving «superintelligence» accessible to everyone.
In the second quarter of 2025, the company reported total expenses of 27.07 billion dollars, a 12% year-over-year increase, and capital expenditures of 17.01 billion.For the full year 2025, Meta anticipates total expenses of 114 to 118 billion dollars, with capital investments of 66 to 72 billion, and a significant increase in 2026.
Additionally, Meta invested 14.3 billion dollars in Scale AI, acquiring 49% of the startup and appointing its CEO, Alexandr Wang, as AI director.The company also recruits talent from competitors like Apple, offering millionaire compensation packages.
Meta uses temporary structures like hurricane-resistant tents at other sites, such as New Albany, Ohio, to speed up construction and avoid delays of up to four years in concrete buildings.
The Prometheus center in Ohio, for example, will exceed 1 gigawatt in 2026, becoming one of the world’s largest AI training clusters.These efforts underscore the global race for AI, where Meta seeks to differentiate itself by focusing on personal superintelligence, in contrast to rivals that prioritize job automation.
However, the announcement prompted an immediate response from Elon Musk, CEO of xAI and Tesla, who replied on X: «Rookie numbers,» suggesting that Meta’s figures pale in comparison to his own plans.
Musk, known for his criticisms of censorship on platforms like Facebook (owned by Meta), highlights how projects like xAI’s Colossus, with potential investments in trillions of dollars, eclipse those of Zuckerberg.
This rivalry exposes the flaws of big tech aligned with the left, while Meta has been accused of suppressing conservative voices, now spending fortunes on AI that could centralize more power.
Economically, the Hyperion project, valued at up to 50 billion dollars according to announcements backed by figures like Donald Trump, promises to boost local employment in Louisiana.In summary, Meta’s push for AI reveals an aggressive strategy, but also the tensions in the sector.
This is an opportunity to question the monopoly of companies that have favored progressive narratives, while competitors like Musk defend free innovation.
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