March 26 (Reuters) - Meta said on Thursday it

is increasing investment in its El Paso, Texas AI data center to

$10 billion, a more than sixfold jump, as it aims to hit

1-gigawatt capacity ahead of the facility's projected opening in

2028.

The social media giant in October had committed an

investment of $1.5 billion in the El Paso data center, its 29th

such facility globally and third in Texas.

Big Tech firms such as Meta, Amazon ( AMZN ), Alphabet

, and Microsoft ( MSFT ) have been racing to build AI

infrastructure and are projected to spend over $630 billion to

build AI infrastructure this year.

The El Paso facility will lead to the creation of 300 new

jobs once operational, with over 3,000 construction workers

expected onsite at peak construction, Meta said in a blog.

Meta also said it has projects under contract that are

adding more than 5,000 megawatts of clean energy to the grid in

Texas and will ease the water burden by working with specialized

nonprofits to bring fresh water to the area.

The company laid off a few hundred people across multiple

teams on Wednesday, following an earlier Reuters report about

Meta planning sweeping layoffs that could affect 20% or more of

its workforce.

Its shares dropped on Thursday after two verdicts holding it

liable for harm to young users sparked fears Meta may have to

overhaul the design practices that have underpinned its

sprawling advertising business.