Meta, BlackRock form $14 billion venture to develop AI data center campus in Texas

Meta Platforms Inc ( NASDAQ:META XETRA:FB2A SIX:FB ) and BlackRock Inc ( NYSE:BLK ) have formed a joint venture to develop and operate a large-scale artificial intelligence data center campus in El Paso, Texas, as Meta looks to expand the infrastructure supporting its AI ambitions.

The venture will develop and own the data center campus, which is currently under construction and is expected to provide 1 gigawatt of compute capacity when it begins coming online in 2028.

The project represents a total development cost of approximately $14 billion, including buildings and long-lived power, cooling and connectivity infrastructure.

Under the agreement, funds managed by BlackRock will own an 80% interest in the venture, while Meta will retain a 20% stake.

The companies will fund their respective portions of the development costs, with BlackRock making an initial cash contribution of approximately $4.9 billion and Meta contributing land and construction-in-progress assets valued at about $2.3 billion.

Meta will lease the entire campus from the venture and will remain the sole occupant upon completion.

The company will provide construction management, administrative and property management services for the facility.

Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote that the partnership would allow the company to scale its AI infrastructure efforts more quickly.

“Building the infrastructure for superintelligence is key to making sure the benefits of this technology are distributed to everyone,” Zuckerberg wrote.

“Our partnership with Larry and the team at BlackRock allows us to move faster and at greater scale, pairing our deep expertise in de...