Mark Zuckerberg and Meta's plans for a 'mammoth' $50,000,000,000 data center in Louisiana will make a massive splash in the AI world, but it might not quite have registered with the president yet as he has offered his own real reaction.
The overwhelming demand for artificial intelligence right now only continues to grow, and in order to meet that you need to have the right supply.
Many of the world's biggest AI companies have already built data centers across the country – which come with a myriad of issues on their own – but some have revealed plans for further plants that continue to provide additional power for their models.
While Elon Musk's xAI has its own supercomputer in Memphis, and Google has revealed a mega investment into Oklahoma, Mark Zuckerberg and Meta are definitely leading the pack with plans for a 'mammoth' data center in Louisiana.
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This so-called 'mammoth' of a plant named 'Hyperion' will be large enough to cover the entirety of Manhattan when completed, and will initially supply 'just' 2 gigawatts (GW) of power before eventually stretching up to 5 GW a few years after its expected 2030 opening.
While a plant that draws this much power comes with its own environmental concerns as the world reaches a climate tipping point, President Trump has expressed worries of a different kind as he has shared his real reaction to the news.
As reported by the New York Post, Donald Trump was stunned at the cost of the project – which he revealed to be $50 billion – and compared it to his past real estate efforts during a recent White House cabinet meeting.
"I built shopping centers and for $50 million, you can build a very nice shopping center," Trump proclaimed, perhaps suggesting the ridiculousness of this new project's ballooning budget.
"So I never understood, when they said $50 billion for a plant, I said, 'what the hell kind of plant is that?' But when you look at this, you understand why it's $50 billion."
Trump then held up a superimposed image of the plant which was apparently given to him by Zuckerberg, and previous Executive Orders signed by the president make it easier for companies like Meta to continue to build these behemoth buildings.
Under Trump's leadership, the Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure Executive Order means that any new AI plans and related infrastructure now is afforded lenience in gaining environmental permits under the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act.
Trump's decision to let it slip that Meta's Louisiana center will actually cost $50 billion directly contradicts the company's assertion that it wouldn't spend any more than $10 billion on Hyperion's construction, so these costs could potentially have increased by up to five times.