Meta warns political headwinds could impede future data center expansion

Meta President Dina Powell McCormick indicated that the Democratic victories in the recent midterm elections are likely to complicate the construction of new data centers. Speaking at the WSJ Tech conference on Wednesday, McCormick noted that the industry has struggled to adequately communicate the advantages of these infrastructure investments, pointing out that public opposition to data centers is often linked to broader concerns about AI technology. McCormick detailed that communities are increasingly demanding tangible benefits from data center projects. To secure deals, Meta reportedly ensures it covers its own electricity costs, directs tax surpluses toward local teachers and first responders, maintains a local workforce, and secures bipartisan support. The company currently operates data centers across 23 states, with five planned projects exceeding 1 gigawatt. While Meta is betting on its AI agent Muse to scale to billions of users, the company believes its compute investments will remain valuable even if that goal is not met, as it is already receiving daily requests to lease its built compute power. McCormick added that while building data centers has always been challenging, it is becoming clearer which operational models are favored by states.