Temple among 3 US projects being redesigned by tech giant
DAVID STONE | OUR TOWN TEMPLE
The social media behemoth behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp says it is moving forward on a data center in Temple, but a facility redesign continues to slow construction.
Meta has paused construction on facilities being built in Temple, Idaho and Alabama, according to reporting from Data Center Dynamics. The delays are part of a broader company initiative to rework 11 projects around the world with major redesigns to accommodate artificial intelligence.
Despite the delays, Meta officials say the company is committed to completing and operating the Temple data center, but the delay is needed to redesign the facility to meet future needs.
“In order to best serve our needs for the future, we have decided to change the design of our data center in Temple which will result in a temporary construction pause while we update our plans,” said Melanie Roe, a Meta spokesperson.
“We remain committed to this community, our local stakeholders and our supply chain partners,” she said. “We will work closely with our stakeholders to transition this project design as efficiently as possible. We currently do not have any further updates.”
Roe did not say when construction at the facility will resume.
Meta spokesperson Stacey Yip told BoiseDev — a newspaper in Idaho — that rumors of Meta ditching plans for its new data centers are not true.
The $800 million Temple data center will total about 900,000 square feet on 393 acres in northwest Temple.
