Meta to build $10 billion AI data center in Louisiana as Elon Musk expands his Tennessee AI facility

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The largest artificial intelligence data center ever built by Facebook’s parent company Meta is coming to northeast Louisiana, the company said Wednesday, bringing hopes that the $10 billion facility will transform an economically neglected corner of the state.

Republican Gov. Jeff Landry called it “game-changing” for his state's expanding tech sector, yet some environmental groups have raised concerns over the center's reliance on fossil fuels — and whether the plans for new natural gas power to support it could lead to higher energy bills in the future for Louisiana residents.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI, is expanding its existing supercomputer project in Memphis, Tennessee, the city's chamber of commerce said Wednesday. The chamber also said that Nvidia, Dell, and Supermicro Computer will be “establishing operations in Memphis,” without offering further details.

Louisiana is among a growing number of states offering tax credits and other incentives to lure big tech firms seeking sites for energy-intensive data centers.

The U.S. Commerce Department found that there aren’t enough data centers in the U.S. to meet the rising AI-fueled demand, which is projected to grow by 9% each year through 2030, citing industry reports.

Meta anticipates its Louisiana data center will create 500 operational jobs and 5,000 temporary construction jobs, said Kevin Janda, director of data center strategy. At 4 million square feet (370,000 square meters), it will be the company's largest AI data center to date, he added.

“We want to make sure we are having a positive impact on the local level,” Janda said.

Congressional leaders and local representatives from across the political spectrum heralded the Meta facility as a boon for Richland Parish, a rural part of Louisiana with a population of 20,000 historically reliant on agriculture. About one in four residents are considered to live in poverty, according to the U.S. census data. The parish’s unemployment rate was 4.6% last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Meta plans to invest $200 million into road and water infrastructure improvements for the parish to offset its water usage. The facility is expected to be completed in 2030.

Entergy, one of the nation's largest utility providers, is fast-tracking plans to build three natural gas power plants in Louisiana capable of generating 2,262 megawatts for Meta's data center over a 15-year period — nearly one-tenth of Entergy's existing energy capacity across four states.

The Louisiana Public Service Commission is weighing Entergy's proposal as some environmental groups have opposed locking the state into more fossil fuel-based energy infrastructure. Meta said it plans to help bring 1,500 megawatts of renewable energy onto the grid in the future.

Louisiana residents may ultimately end up with rate increases to pay off the cost of operating these natural gas power plants when Meta's contract with Entergy expires, said Jessica Hendricks, state policy director for the Alliance for Affordable Energy, a Louisiana-based nonprofit advocating for energy consumers.

“There’s no reason why residential customers in Louisiana need to pay for a power plant for energy that they’re not going to use," Hendricks said. "And we want to make sure that there’s safeguards in place.”

Public service commissioner Foster Campbell, representing northeast Louisiana, said he does not believe the data center will increase rates for Louisiana residents and views it as vital for his region.

“It’s going in one of the most needed places in Louisiana and maybe one of the most needed places in the United States of America,” Foster said. “I’m for it 100%.”

Environmental groups have also warned of the pollution generated by Musk's AI data center in Memphis. The Southern Environmental Law Center, among others, says the supercomputer could strain the power grid, prompting attention from the Environmental Protection Agency. Eighteen gas turbines currently running at xAI’s south Memphis facility are significant sources of ground-level ozone, better known as smog, the group said.

Patrick Anderson, an attorney at the law center, said xAI has operated with “a stunning lack of transparency” in developing its South Memphis facility, which is located near predominantly Black neighborhoods that have long dealt with pollution and health risks from factories and other industrial sites.

“Memphians deserve to know how xAI will affect them,” he said, “and should have a seat at the table when these decisions are being made.”

Sainz reported from Memphis, Tennessee. Associated Press writer Matt O’Brien in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report.

Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Brook on the social platform X: @jack_brook96

FILE - The Meta logo is seen at the Vivatech show in Paris, France, June 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina Supreme Court dismissed on Wednesday a request by the trailing candidate in an extremely close race for a seat on this same court to rule now on whether well over 60,000 ballots should be removed from the tally.

Instead, the justices ordered that the appeals of Republican Jefferson Griffin seeking to reverse decisions by the State Board of Elections to keep counting the ballots should be held first in the local trial court, as state law directs appeals of board decisions to begin.

The dismissal of the legal motion by Griffin to bypass Wake County Superior Court could slow down the effort to determine whether he or current Associate Justice Allison Riggs, a Democrat, will win an eight-year term.

After recounts and the election board's dismissal of Griffin's election protests, Riggs leads Griffin — a judge on the intermediate-level Court of Appeals — by 734 votes from more 5.5 million ballots cast in the race.

The decision to dismiss Griffin's petition for what's called a “writ of prohibition” was unanimous among the six justices who deliberated — Riggs is still on the court but recused herself in the case. The court's order described issuing such a writ as “extraordinary.”

With Election Day held 2 1/2 months ago, the order directs the Wake County court to “proceed expeditiously” considering Griffin's appeals. It's very possible that the protest appeals ultimately return to the Supreme Court.

The timing of the dismissal was a bit surprising. The order was issued as the justices were still in the process of receiving legal briefs from the candidates and the state board on whether to issue the writ. The briefing schedule was to close on Friday.

A temporary stay that the Republican-majority Supreme Court issued Jan. 7 preventing the board from formally certifying Riggs as the election winner remains in place, however.

And the Supreme Court's action doesn't halt scheduled oral arguments for Monday at the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by attorneys for Riggs, Griffin, the state board and other parties.

In that matter, the federal judges are considering in part whether questions over the 66,000 ballots being challenged by Griffin should actually be heard by a federal court. Lawyers for Riggs and the board say the matter involves federal voting rights and election law. Griffin's side says it should remain in state court.

Griffin’s lawyers contend the challenged absentee or early votes were cast without complying with state registration, residency and photo identification laws that they argue the State Board of Elections failed to enforce. Removing even a portion from the tally could flip the outcome.

Riggs has said the votes were lawful and her attorneys accuse Griffin of trying to overturn an election after the fact by removing ballots of legitimate and longtime voters, violating their rights.

Attached to Wednesday's order were written opinions by five of the six justices hearing the case.

Chief Justice Paul Newby, one of five registered Republicans on the court, defended the right of Griffin to file protests as state law allows, and called out those who say Griffin was seeking to “disenfranchise" voters and intentionally delay the certification.

Newby pointed out that some previously contested elections in North Carolina have taken months or longer to settle following an election.

Initially leading by 10,000 votes on election night, Griffin's advantage dwindled as provisional and absentee ballots were counted in the days ahead. Riggs ultimately took the lead.

"It is understandable that petitioner and many North Carolina voters are questioning how this could happen," Newby wrote, adding that Griffin “has a legal right to inquire into this outcome through the statutorily enacted procedures available to him.”

But Associate Justice Anita Earls, the only Democrat deliberating the case, wrote that the temporary stay preventing the certification of Riggs' victory should have been dismissed as well.

“In seeking to invalidate the votes of over 60,000 voters, Judge Griffin cannot identify a single voter who fraudulently cast a ballot without being duly qualified under the laws of this state to do so,” Riggs wrote.

Riggs also said she perceived “a signal in this Order as to the Court’s preferred outcome” to overturn the results. Still, she wrote, am confident that the members of our judiciary who evaluate these claims shall do so fairly.”

FILE - This undated photo provided by the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts in December 2024 shows North Carolina Supreme Court Associate Justice Allison Riggs. (Roger Winstead/North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts via AP, File)

FILE - This undated photo provided by the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts in December 2024 shows North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin. (North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts via AP, File)