Meta Platforms and BlackRock unveiled a $14 billion joint investment to construct a massive artificial intelligence data center campus in Texas, marking one of the largest infrastructure partnerships aimed at meeting surging demand for AI computing power. Under the deal, BlackRock-managed funds will own 80% of the project, while Meta will lease the entire 1-gigawatt facility upon its expected completion in 2028. Meta is contributing land and pre-existing assets under development, with BlackRock covering the remaining construction costs through a combination of cash and debt financing.
This structure allows Meta to drastically expand its AI processing capacity without absorbing the full financial weight of the build-out—a critical consideration given its ballooning capital expenditures. Meta’s latest financial report shows it spent $31.08 billion on capital projects and finance leases in Q2 2026 alone, while free cash flow shrank to just $784 million. The company now anticipates full-year 2026 CapEx between $130 billion and $145 billion, even as revenue climbed 28% to $60.8 billion. By shifting 80% of the data-center venture to BlackRock’s balance sheet, Meta can continue its AI arms race while mitigating near-term cash-flow pressure.
The partnership also intensifies the debate between centralized and decentralized AI infrastructure. While Big Tech pours billions into proprietary mega-data centers, decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) are expanding access to distributed GPU resources, often through blockchain-based marketplaces. Meta’s aggressive spending highlights how concentrated AI compute is becoming, raising the stakes for projects aiming to democratize access to high-performance hardware through token-incentivized networks.
