Zuckerberg’s AI Empire: Meta to Drop Billions on Supercharged Data Hubs

Mark Zuckerberg has entered his Bond villain era – but instead of a lair inside a volcano, he’s building colossal data centres named things like Prometheus and Hyperion. Meta’s founder has revealed plans to invest hundreds of billions of dollars into US-based AI data centres in a move he says will help build “superintelligence” – a tech buzzword for machines that can outsmart even the brainiest humans.

In a post on Threads (Meta’s Twitter rival), Zuckerberg said these mega-clusters aren’t just huge – they’re Manhattan-huge. “Just one of these covers a significant part of the footprint of Manhattan,” he wrote. And yes, he’s serious.

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The first beast of a centre, Prometheus, is expected to go live in 2026 in New Albany, Ohio. Another, called Hyperion, will be constructed in Louisiana and could scale up to five gigawatts over the next few years. Meta is also planning several more “titan clusters” – all in the name of AI domination.

“We’re building multiple more titan clusters as well,” Zuckerberg added. “Just one of these covers a significant part of the footprint of Manhattan.”

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Let’s not forget, Meta isn’t exactly short on cash. The company pulled in over $160 billion in revenue in 2024 – mainly from advertising. So, throwing a few hundred billion at next-gen AI doesn’t seem to be causing much of a wobble. In fact, Meta’s stock jumped 1% after the announcement, according to Reuters, and it’s already up more than 20% this year.

Analysts are taking note. Karl Freund, principal analyst at Cambrian AI Research, told Helen Sullivan from the BBC: “Clearly, Zuckerberg intends to spend his way to the top of the AI heap. The talent he is hiring will have access to some of the best AI hardware in the world.”

Image @zuck via IG

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But behind the glitz of flashy tech and godlike names lies an environmental cost. These AI data centres are incredibly energy and water hungry. A single AI query – like asking ChatGPT how to break up with your situationship – can use up as much water as a corner-shop-sized bottle. Globally, AI data centres could gulp down 1.7 trillion gallons of water by 2027. Suddenly, those “superintelligence” queries don’t feel so guilt-free.

With around 10,000 data centres already dotted across the globe – most in the US, followed by the UK and Germany – Meta’s expansion could reshape not only the tech landscape but also how we think about the environmental toll of the AI arms race.