12:58 PM EDT, 10/15/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Meta Platforms ( META ) said Wednesday it has broken ground on a new artificial intelligence-focused data center in El Paso, Texas, representing an investment of more than $1.5 billion.

The facility, which is being developed in partnership with The Borderplex Alliance, will be Meta's 29th data center globally and can scale to a 1-gigawatt site optimized to support the company's expanding AI workloads.

Once completed, the project is expected to create about 1,800 construction jobs at peak and 100 operational roles, Meta said. The company added that the site's power use will be matched with 100% clean, renewable energy through new grid infrastructure built with El Paso Electric.

The center will use a closed-loop, liquid-cooled system that requires no water for most of the year. Meta aims to be water positive by 2030, restoring 200% of the water consumed by the facility to local watersheds.

Shares of Meta Platforms ( META ) were up 1.2% in recent trading.

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