Meta opens AI-optimized data center in Temple
Meta has opened its first AI-optimized data center in Temple, Texas, a 760,000 square foot facility designed to support next-generation AI systems. The project faces ongoing local opposition from residents concerned about water usage, power consumption, and the 'heat island' effect. Meta maintains the facility uses water-efficient cooling and offsets its energy consumption with clean energy.
Meta has inaugurated its first artificial intelligence-optimized data center globally in Temple, Texas. The 760,000 square foot facility, strategically located between Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth, is now operational and designed to support advanced AI systems with specialized hardware, network design, and cooling. Bradley Davis of Meta's data center global economic development team highlighted the company's pride in this pioneering facility, which aims to facilitate connections, community building, and business growth. Meta also operates data centers in Fort Worth and El Paso, with the latter also slated for AI workloads upon completion.
The Temple project, however, is not without local contention. Residents, organized under groups like Temple Stands Together led by Joe Royer, express concerns about the data center's impact on water resources, power grid strain, and localized temperature increases, particularly the "heat island" effect. Royer states that Meta's promises have "holes." In response, Meta asserts its use of a water-efficient, closed-loop liquid cooling system that requires no water for most of the year. The company also claims it will offset its electricity consumption by adding an equivalent amount of clean energy to the state's power grid, ensuring no increased costs for local residents. Despite these assurances and commitments to transparency through upcoming sustainability reports, skepticism persists among community members.