Meta's Mark Zuckerberg announces AI data center expansion. Are any centers coming to Tennessee?
According to Reuters, this move deepens his drive to develop the technology, which he has aggressively pursued by competing for top engineering talent. Meta's first multi-gigawatt data center, named Prometheus, is set to launch in 2026, while another facility, Hyperion, is designed to eventually scale up to 5 gigawatts over the next several years.
"We're building multiple more titan clusters as well," said Zuckerberg in a Facebook post. "Just one of these covers a significant part of the footprint of Manhattan."
Hyperion will be located in Louisiana, a Meta spokesperson told TechCrunch, while Prometheus will be located in New Albany, Ohio. At the time of publication, Meta had not responded to The Tennessean's request for comment on whether AI data centers will be coming to Tennessee.
"Meta Superintelligence Labs will have industry-leading levels of compute and by far the greatest compute per researcher," added Zuckerberg. "I'm looking forward to working with the top researchers to advance the frontier!"
Here's what to know about data centers in Tennessee.
More: Nashville Council takes next step toward using AI in water management
What is an AI data center?
An AI data center is a specialized facility designed to support the heavy computing needs of artificial intelligence applications, such as training and deploying machine learning models.
While it shares basic components with traditional data centers, like servers, storage, and networking, AI data centers are built to handle much more demanding workloads.
According to IBM.com, the key difference between AI data centers and traditional data centers, lies in the hardware and infrastructure. Traditional centers typically use central processing units (CPUs), which are not powerful enough for AI tasks. AI centers, on the other hand, rely on high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs), which require more space, power and advanced systems to support them. These facilities are equipped with high-speed computing, secure networking, and large-scale storage, along with robust power and cooling systems.
Because AI workloads generate a lot of heat and consume large amounts of electricity, AI data centers use advanced cooling strategies, said IBM.
One common method is liquid cooling, which uses water instead of air to absorb and remove heat more efficiently. This helps manage the high temperatures produced by densely packed GPUs. Another method, hot and cold aisle containment, organizes server racks to improve airflow and prevent hot and cold air from mixing.
Are Meta AI data centers coming to Tennessee?
While Meta has not confirmed whether it will bring AI data centers to Tennessee, the recent boom in artificial intelligence has sparked increased data center investment in Nashville.
As previously reported by the Tennessean, RadiusDC, a Denver-based data center company with operations in Miami, is expanding into Nashville with a new 100,000-square-foot facility in the Trinity/Haynes area. Once completed, it will be the largest data center within the city limits, according to the company.
The site, called 'Nashville I,' will offer 12 megawatts of power and serve as a colocation facility, providing rentable space for tech companies to house their servers. It's being built on a 12-acre site along Brick Church Pike, where RadiusDC recently purchased 7.5 acres for over $5 million.
The project is backed by New York-based Blue Owl Capital and is expected to open in 2026.
Meanwhile, Meta's $1 billion data center campus in Gallatin became fully operational late last year, with plans to expand capacity in the future.
This growth aligns with broader trends, as major tech companies continue to invest in the Nashville area and the Tennessee Valley Authority works to increase statewide power capacity to meet rising demand.
The Volunteer State has become an appealing destination for data center developers and tech companies like Meta that seek greater control over their infrastructure. This is due in part to the availability of affordable industrial land and a reliable, cost-effective energy supply, supported by proactive state and local efforts to expand power capacity.
Elon Musk's xAI expands in Memphis with Colossus 2 supercomputer
On July 15, Brent Mayo of Elon Musk's xAI shared new information about the company's second Memphis facility, Colossus 2. The first Memphis xAI location was announced in June 2024.
While Mayo did not specify how the new supercomputer will be powered, energy sourcing remains a major concern for the community, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported, especially after the first site on Paul R. Lowry Road used gas turbines, sparking renewed debate over air quality in South Memphis.
Mayo stated that xAI is working with the Tennessee Valley Authority and Memphis Light, Gas and Water to determine the best energy solution for the new Tulane Road site. He also confirmed that equipment currently stored in Mississippi is being relocated from the original site to the new campus.
In May, the Greater Memphis Chamber announced that gas turbines would not be used at the Tulane Road facility. Shortly after, Elon Musk posted a photo on X showing 168 Tesla Megapacks being delivered to the site, calling it the first 'gigawatt AI training supercluster.'
While Mayo didn't confirm the exact energy needs, he did say the company plans to use 'a lot' of Tesla Megapacks.
The Colossus 2 project is expected to create 200 to 400 permanent jobs, with over 1,000 jobs currently supported through construction.
Contributing: Molly Davis and Commerical Appeal reporter Neil Strebig
Diana Leyva covers trending news and service journalism for the Tennessean. Contact her at Dleyva@gannett.com or follow her on X at @_leyvadiana
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Are Meta AI data centers coming to Tennessee? What to know
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