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Meta to invest $1.5 billion in massive AI data center in Texas

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Meta Platforms announced plans to invest $1.5 billion in a new data center in El Paso, Texas, marking its 29th global facility and third in the state, as part of its ongoing expansion to support artificial intelligence workloads. The new site will be one of the largest in the U.S., capable of scaling to 1 gigawatt of power — enough to supply a city the size of San Francisco for a full day.

Expected to go online in 2028, the El Paso data center will create around 100 permanent jobs and employ more than 1,800 construction workers at peak development. Meta said it chose El Paso for its strong electrical grid, skilled workforce, and access to renewable energy.

The project is part of a broader race among tech giants to build infrastructure for AI. Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta together are projected to spend more than $360 billion in 2025 on cloud and AI infrastructure, most of it directed toward data centers.

Meta has already invested over $10 billion in Texas and employs more than 2,500 people statewide. The company said the new facility will be powered by 100% renewable energy and use a closed-loop, liquid-cooling system to recycle water continuously. It also pledged to restore twice the water consumed by the site to local watersheds, exceeding its 2030 sustainability goal of becoming “water-positive.”

Jon Barela, CEO of the Borderplex Alliance, which helped facilitate the project, described Meta as “the fastest gazelle in the industry,” noting that the deal stemmed from discussions with Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s office four years ago and was supported by a package of local tax incentives.

Qualcomm to Acquire Alphawave for $2.4 Billion to Boost AI Data Center Expansion

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U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm announced on Monday that it will acquire British semiconductor firm Alphawave for approximately $2.4 billion, signaling Qualcomm’s strategic push into the rapidly growing AI data center market. Alphawave’s shares surged over 22% following the announcement.

Alphawave specializes in high-speed semiconductor technologies for data centers, an area that complements Qualcomm’s existing portfolio and helps diversify its reliance beyond the smartphone sector. Qualcomm, a leading supplier of chips for major smartphone brands including Apple and Xiaomi, is increasingly focusing on data centers and personal computers, partly due to Apple’s shift toward in-house processors for iPhones.

Alphawave shareholders will receive 183 pence per share, representing a nearly 96% premium over the company’s closing price on March 31, just before Qualcomm revealed its interest. Qualcomm’s shares rose about 4% on the news.

The deal includes two alternative all-share offers following extensions by the UK takeover panel, but Alphawave’s board plans to recommend the cash offer as fair and reasonable.

Jefferies analysts expect no significant regulatory hurdles, citing Alphawave’s recent exit from its Chinese joint venture, WiseWave.

Qualcomm President and CEO Cristiano Amon emphasized that Alphawave’s advanced connectivity and compute technologies will enhance Qualcomm’s power-efficient CPU and neural processing units.

The acquisition is slated to close in the first quarter of 2026. Notably, SoftBank-owned Arm had considered acquiring Alphawave but ultimately chose not to proceed.

UAE’s ‘Stargate’ AI Megaproject to Launch in 2026 with 100,000 Nvidia Chips

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A landmark AI infrastructure project in Abu Dhabi, dubbed Stargate UAE, is set to begin operations in 2026, becoming one of the largest and most advanced artificial intelligence data centers outside the United States. The project will be powered by an estimated 100,000 Nvidia chips, marking a significant step in the UAE’s ambition to become a global AI superhub.

The 1-gigawatt first phase is part of a broader 5-gigawatt, 10-square-mile site and represents the first outcome of a U.S.-brokered deal led by President Donald Trump. The partnership involves a collaboration between UAE’s state-backed G42, and major U.S. and Japanese tech firms: OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco Systems, and SoftBank.

Key Highlights:

  • Launch Timeline:

    • First phase (200MW) to be operational by 2026

  • Hardware:

    • Uses Nvidia Grace Blackwell GB300 systems, Nvidia’s most powerful AI chips

    • TrendForce estimates point to 1,400 servers, each with 72 chips, totalling ~100,000 chips

  • Scale:

    • Part of a 5-gigawatt megaproject to house the largest AI infrastructure outside the U.S.

    • Located on a 26 sq-km site in Abu Dhabi

  • Purpose:

    • Will allow UAE government bodies and businesses to access cutting-edge generative AI models

    • Positioned as a “first-in-the-world platform”, according to Oracle’s Larry Ellison

U.S. Policy Reversal

The announcement follows a significant policy shift by the Trump administration, which reversed Biden-era restrictions on exporting advanced AI chips to the UAE due to concerns over the country’s ties to China.

The U.S. Commerce Department will oversee a bilateral working group with the UAE to ensure compliance with:

  • National security standards

  • Ethical AI deployment

  • Global oversight of AI infrastructure

Strategic Implications

  • Geopolitical Impact:

    • The project cements UAE’s growing alignment with U.S. tech interests, even amid global tensions over AI dominance

    • Could challenge China’s AI influence in the Middle East and Africa

  • Commercial Influence:

    • Strengthens partnerships between OpenAI, Nvidia, and Oracle, anchoring them in the Gulf region

    • Offers a new AI deployment and monetization model based on national infrastructure rather than global cloud platforms

  • Regional AI Race:

    • The Stargate initiative follows Saudi Arabia’s recent moves to create its own multimodal Arabic LLMs

    • Marks a regional AI arms race underpinned by state-backed funding and global tech partnerships