Meta Announces AI Data Center in Canada
Meta, the technology firm based in California, revealed on Wednesday that it is building its first artificial intelligence data center in Canada.
The new facility, described as a 1-gigawatt “AI-optimized” data center, will be located in Alberta. Meta aims for this center to enhance its “AI innovations and core products,” investing over 13 billion Canadian dollars in the project.
According to the announcement, the project is expected to create peak employment for over 3,000 construction workers and provide more than 300 operational jobs once it’s up and running. Additionally, Meta plans to invest around 60 million Canadian dollars in “local infrastructure improvements that will benefit the local community” and provide grants to local nonprofits.
However, Meta has yet to respond to inquiries from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
In a tweet, Meta shared that this will be their first data center in Canada and the 33rd in their global network.
The company also stated that the energy consumption from this data center will be entirely sourced from clean and renewable energy. Furthermore, they plan to implement a water-efficient closed-loop, liquid-cooled system, which reportedly will not involve operational water use for cooling.
Essentially, water use at the facility will be restricted to domestic purposes, fire safety, and equipment maintenance.
Large AI data centers typically consume massive amounts of electricity and water, with some facilities using up to 5 million gallons of water per day—roughly equivalent to what a town of 10,000 to 50,000 residents would use, as per the Environmental and Energy Study Institute.
Earlier this June, Meta initiated a program aimed at training American workers for jobs related to data center construction. Furthermore, they are set to begin manufacturing an AI chip in September, with plans to increase their overall computing power by 2027, as reported by Reuters.
Recent surveys indicate significant public resistance to new data center constructions throughout the U.S. A Gallup poll from May found that seven out of ten Americans opposed the establishment of AI data centers within their communities.
Additionally, Texas Governor Greg Abbott suggested on June 30 that he intends to “prohibit” new data center projects in some rural areas of Texas, as reported by Texas Tribune.
“We must prohibit them from building AI data centers in rural Texas neighborhoods,” Abbott stated, adding that this concern aligns with advocating for East Texas values.
