Meta’s decision to plant a more-than-1-gigawatt data center in Lebanon, Indiana, reads like a statement that the future of AI won’t be confined to Silicon Valley ZIP codes. The planned campus, with over $10 billion in investment, is set to become one of Meta’s largest infrastructure projects to date and a cornerstone of its ambitious AI build-out.
The facility is designed to support both Meta’s core social platforms and its rapidly scaling AI workloads, effectively turning a patch of Hoosier farmland into prime digital real estate. For investors tracking the arms race in AI infrastructure, Indiana just landed squarely on the map.
Why Indiana, and Why Now?
Indiana’s pitch combined geography, policy, and a distinctly Midwestern brand of welcome: shovel-ready land, central U.S. logistics, and generous long-term tax incentives. State officials granted Meta a data center sales tax exemption that can extend up to 50 years, contingent on the company hitting capital investment milestones that start at $1 billion and scale into the billions.
In return, Meta is committing more than $10 billion over multiple phases to build out a 1,500‑acre campus with 13 buildings, including 10 data center facilities that will anchor the LEAP Innovation and Research District. The result is a public–private alliance where Indiana supplies the runway and Meta supplies the jets—and the jet fuel is measured in megawatts and machine learning models.
Jobs, Growth, and a New Local “Export”
Economic development officials are already framing the project as a generational upgrade to Lebanon’s economic base. At peak construction, the campus is expected to support more than 4,000 construction jobs, eventually settling into roughly 300 high-wage operational roles once the facility is fully online.
Beyond payrolls, Meta’s presence is poised to ripple through the local tax base, school funding, and small business ecosystem, with the company launching ongoing grant programs for schools, nonprofits, and workforce development. For a town better known for interstates and grain, exporting AI compute to the rest of the world may become its most modern industry.
Powering a Gigawatt Data Center—Responsibly
Running an AI-era data hub that can top 1 gigawatt of capacity is not for the faint of grid. Meta has pledged to match 100% of the facility’s electricity use with clean energy and is targeting LEED Gold certification once the campus is operational. The company is also committing to pay the full tab for the data center’s energy, water, and wastewater needs, easing concerns that local ratepayers could get stuck with an AI-sized utility bill.
To tackle water usage, the campus will rely on a closed-loop cooling system designed to use little to no water for most of the year, while Meta plans to replenish all of the water it does consume back into local watersheds. Combined with more than $120 million earmarked for water infrastructure upgrades, plus improvements to roads and transmission lines, the project doubles as a quiet infrastructure stimulus package.
Community Givebacks in the Age of Compute
Big tech has learned that massive data centers can generate as much local skepticism as local pride, especially around noise, energy demand, and land use. Meta is trying to preempt that backlash by writing community benefits directly into the project’s blueprint.[4][5][7][2]
The company has pledged $1 million per year to the REMC Fund to assist residents with energy bills, along with additional support for emergency water utility assistance through local partners. On top of that, Meta has committed to annual community impact payments of $1.5 million to Lebanon for each completed phase of the project—funds earmarked for quality-of-life and placemaking efforts that may help residents see opportunity, not just server racks, when they look at the LEAP District.
The AI Infrastructure Race, with a Midwestern Accent
Meta’s Indiana build is part of a far larger capital spending plan that could reach as high as $135 billion by 2026 as the company races to secure AI compute at scale. Its peers are hardly standing still: Google has laid out plans for around $180 billion in 2026 capital outlays, while Amazon is signaling roughly $200 billion, much of it also aimed at AI and cloud infrastructure.
The market response has been telling: the prospect of Meta turning heavy AI capex into future growth helped propel its shares more than 10% higher around the announcement before they eased back, even as rival stocks wobbled on the prospect of an escalating spending war. If data is the new oil, the Indiana campus suggests that the new refineries might just sit beside cornfields, and the wildcatters wear hoodies instead of hard hats.
Timeline: From Groundbreaking to Go-Live
Meta has already broken ground on the Lebanon campus, with construction ramping in phases over several years. The site is expected to go operational around 2027 or early 2028, adding to Meta’s existing Indiana footprint that includes a separate data center in Jeffersonville slated to open in 2026.
By the time the Lebanon campus hits its planned 1‑gigawatt scale, it is expected to stand as one of the company’s most important global hubs for AI computation—a physical reminder that today’s digital empires still depend on concrete, steel, and a great deal of electricity.
Sources
[1] Meta Breaks Ground on 1GW Indiana Campus with US$10bn Boost https://datacentremagazine.com/news/meta-breaks-ground-on-1gw-indiana-campus-with-us-10bn-boost
[2] Meta announces plans to build 1-gigawatt data center in Indiana as … https://finance.yahoo.com/news/meta-announces-plans-to-build-1-gigawatt-data-center-in-indiana-as-part-of-ai-build-out-180052467.html
[3] Meta officially announces $10 billion data center under construction … https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/meta-officially-announces-10-billion-201100403.html
[4] Gov. Braun Breaks Ground on $10B Meta Data Center Campus at … https://events.in.gov/event/gov-braun-breaks-ground-on-10b-meta-data-center-campus-at-leap-district
[5] Meta starts construction on $10B, 1GW AI data hub in Indiana https://interestingengineering.com/ai-robotics/meta-1gw-data-center-lebanon-indiana
[6] Meta’s New Data Center in Lebanon, Indiana Marks a Milestone AI … https://about.fb.com/news/2026/02/metas-new-data-center-lebanon-indiana-marks-milestone-ai-investment/
[7] Meta’s $10B Indiana data center: Jobs, water, and energy plans https://www.indystar.com/story/money/2026/02/12/metas-10b-lebanon-indiana-data-center-jobs-water-and-energy-plans/88622319007/
[8] Investing in jobs, infrastructure and schools: Meta data centers help … https://datacenters.atmeta.com/jobs-infrastructure-usa/
[9] Meta breaks ground on US$ 10B data center in Indiana – W.Media https://w.media/meta-breaks-ground-on-us-10b-data-center-in-indiana/
[10] Meta’s Indiana AI data center: 3 key details to know – Yahoo Finance https://finance.yahoo.com/video/metas-indiana-ai-data-center-210142910.html
[11] Meta begins construction of $10 billion Indiana data center to boost … https://finance.yahoo.com/news/meta-begins-construction-10-billion-180445472.html
[12] $10+ billion Meta data center campus to be established in Lebanon https://www.yahoo.com/news/videos/10-billion-meta-data-center-224033223.html
[13] NEW: Meta says it is breaking ground on a $10 BILLION data center … https://www.facebook.com/MarcusLeshock/posts/new-meta-says-it-is-breaking-ground-on-a-10-billion-data-center-in-lebanon-india/1428405191972173/
[14] Details on long-expected Meta data center campus unveiled – Yahoo https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/details-long-expected-meta-data-222255554.html
[15] Meta 1GW data center in Lebanon! : r/Indiana – Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/Indiana/comments/1r25l91/meta_1gw_data_center_in_lebanon/
