Meta and Black Rock jointly build a US$14 billion AI data center campus
Meta Platforms and the world’s largest asset management company A joint venture was announced on Tuesday to jointly develop a data center campus in El Paso, Texas, with a total project development cost of approximately $14 billion. The park's designed computing capacity is 1 gigawatt and is expected to be put into operation in 2028. Under the agreement, funds managed by BlackRock will hold 80% of the joint venture, with Meta retaining the remaining 20%. Meta will take a stake in land and construction-in-progress assets worth approximately US$2.3 billion, while BlackRock will contribute approximately US$4.9 billion in cash, part of which will come from US$12.5 billion in debt financing. To align the equity structure with an 80:20 distribution arrangement, Meta will also receive a one-time distribution of approximately $1 billion. The founder and CEO of Meta said: "Building super-intelligent infrastructure is the key to ensuring that this technology benefits everyone. Cooperation with the BlackRock team allows us to advance this goal at a faster speed and on a larger scale." BlackRock's chairman and CEO pointed out that the project will create thousands of high-skilled jobs and promote local economic growth. The park is currently under construction and will create more than 4,000 construction jobs at its peak and approximately 300 long-term operating jobs upon completion. Meta will be the only user in the park and sign a lease agreement with the joint venture. The initial lease term is four years, with the option to extend the lease for up to 20 years. The move comes as tech giants race to expand their AI infrastructure. According to According to data, as of early July this year, the scale of AI-related bond issuance has reached US$270 billion, almost twice the total financing in 2025. Meta previously stated that it plans to invest a total of US$600 billion in AI infrastructure construction by 2028.