Meta Pushes Ahead with $250 Billion Louisiana AI Data Center as New York Halts Hyperscale Builds

New York freezes hyperscale data center permits for a year as Meta expands its $250B Louisiana Hyperion project; Europe eyes potential $12B fine.

The divergent regulatory tides within the United States are creating a starkly uneven playing field for Meta’s ambitious infrastructure push. Even as the tech giant races to expand its Hyperion data center complex in Louisiana to a potential $250 billion price tag, New York has become the first state to slam the brakes on new hyperscale facilities, signing an executive order that freezes permits for any data center running above 50 megawatts for a full year.

Governor Kathy Hochul signed Executive Order 62 on Tuesday, targeting precisely the kind of installations that Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and Oracle rely on. The order directs New York’s environmental agency to stop issuing approvals for these massive server farms, and Hochul is also pushing to strip away tax incentives for them. The rationale is twofold: rising electricity prices for residents and growing community backlash over water consumption and environmental strain. A recent Reuters/Ipsos survey found only one in three Americans support the current pace of data center construction, and most would object to one being built in their own neighborhood. Consumer advocates like Mitch Jones of Food & Water Watch called the move a “breather” for locals to educate themselves about the risks of the AI build-out. The Data Centre Coalition fired back that a moratorium sends a signal that New York is “closed for business.” Meta, along with other hyperscalers and operators such as Digital Realty and Equinix, declined to comment.

Louisiana, meanwhile, is rolling out the welcome mat. Meta has dramatically scaled up its Hyperion project in Richland Parish, lifting the planned investment to more than $50 billion from an initial $10 billion. The computing capacity has been raised from 2 GW to 5 GW — the equivalent of four to five nuclear reactors, per the company. The campus itself will cover 10 million square feet, up from 4 million. Construction is already underway, with the first 2 GW expected online by 2030 and full 5 GW capacity targeted for 2032. The total cost including hardware could exceed $250 billion, though Meta is not shouldering the burden alone. The project is structured as a joint venture with Blue Owl Capital, which owns 80% of the equity. Blue Owl put in $7 billion of its own capital, PIMCO purchased $18 billion in bonds, and BlackRock contributed $3 billion. Meta is also committing $1.6 billion to local contracts and another $1 billion for infrastructure. It is funding seven new natural gas plants, three battery storage installations, and a nuclear uprate in partnership with utility Entergy, a move that is expected to save Entergy’s customers roughly $2.65 billion in electricity costs over 20 years. Governor Jeff Landry touted that the entire state has attracted $150 billion in new investment over the past two years alone.

The regulatory noise is not confined to U.S. state lines. In Europe, Meta is staring at a potential fine of up to $12 billion from the European Commission, which has provisionally concluded that Instagram and Facebook violate the Digital Services Act through addictive design features such as autoplay, infinite scroll, and personalized recommendations. The preliminary investigation, launched in May 2024, found that Meta inadequately assessed risks to the mental health of young users. The fine would represent roughly 6% of Meta’s 2025 global revenue of $200.97 billion. Separately, the EU is considering a social media ban for children under 13.

Domestically, Meta is also battling a lawsuit filed on July 13, 2026 in federal court in Oakland by 26 former employees. They allege that the company’s AI systems — particularly the internal tool “Metamate” — disproportionately selected staff on protected medical or parental leave for layoffs during the May workforce reduction of around 8,000 roles, or 10% of the total workforce. Meta denies the accusations, insisting that human managers made the decisions. The plaintiffs are seeking a temporary injunction; the layoffs are scheduled to take effect on July 22, 2026.

Despite the litany of legal and regulatory pressures, Meta’s stock has proven remarkably resilient. Shares are trading at €578.80, virtually flat from the prior close of €579.20, and have gained 9.66% over the past week and 13.09% over 30 days. The stock is up 4.25% year-to-date but remains 5.47% lower on a 12-month horizon. It sits 14.61% below its 52-week high of €677.80 set in late July 2025, and 28.02% above the 52-week trough of €452.10 from March 27, 2026. The 50-day moving average of €521.03 and the 200-day moving average of €547.33 both lie below the current price, with the latter trailing by 5.75%. The relative strength index of 65.0 points to a market that is firm but not yet overbought, even as annualized volatility remains elevated at 49.41%. Meta’s market capitalization stands at roughly €1.48 trillion.

Institutional positioning is mixed. Main Street Research trimmed its stake by 18% in the first quarter of 2026 to 70,962 shares, while Kestra Advisory Services built up its position by 10% to 212,207 shares. Analysts polled by MarketBeat rate the stock a “Moderate Buy” with a price target of $835.90. The company delivered a blowout first quarter, posting earnings per share of $10.44 against an estimate of $6.67 on revenue of $56.31 billion. All eyes will be on the next earnings release after the market close on July 29, 2026, when Meta must demonstrate that its enormous capital outlays for AI infrastructure are translating into sustained growth — even as the political and regulatory ground shifts beneath its feet.