Data Center News Roundup: Growth Projections Soar, Meta Confirms $10B Louisiana Facility

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The Data Center Knowledge News Roundup brings you the latest news and developments across the data center industry – from investments and mergers to security threats and industry trends.

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Market Musings 

The global data center market is projected to reach nearly $500 billion by 2029, driven by investment in AI, cloud computing, and digital infrastructure, according to research from law firm DLA Piper. 

In a survey of 176 senior executives on the topic of data center investment opportunities, most expressed confidence about the sector’s future, with 70% of respondents predicting increased investment in data centers in the next two years. 

Ninety-eight percent of investors and operators told DLA Piper that they had concerns about the availability and reliability of power supplies when they made decisions about data center projects, with half of respondents identifying the issue as a principal barrier to investment. 

The law firm said utility companies in the US are being “flooded with power delivery requests for sites earmarked for data centers that they will not be able to satisfy until well into the 2030s.” 

Related:New Data Center Developments: December 2024

New Data Center Builds 

Following reports last month that Meta was planning to develop a large-scale data center in Louisiana, the Facebook parent company confirmed it will build an AI-ready facility in Richland Parish. 

On Wednesday (December 4), Meta announced a $10 billion data center near the city of Monroe in northeast Louisiana. The four million square foot facility will be Meta’s largest data center in the world. Construction is expected to continue through 2030. 

In other company news, Meta said it is seeking up to 4 GW of new nuclear energy as the tech giant looks for a reliable electricity source for its data centers.  

Elsewhere, Nvidia Corporation’s founder and Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang agreed to open an AI research and development center in Vietnam as the company steps up its presence in Southeast Asia. 

The project, along with a Viettel Group data center that uses Nvidia technology, will help develop advanced AI in the country, Vietnam’s Investment Minister Nguyen Chi Dung said at a signing ceremony in Hanoi this week. 

NTT Data announced its proposed acquisition of nearly 70 acres of land in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. If approved, the site will become one of the largest data center campuses in the Asia-Pacific region, featuring six dedicated buildings and 290 MW of capacity. 

Related:Malaysia’s Data Center Bet: New Planning Guidelines Set to Drive Growth

In Europe, Yondr Group handed over the first 20 MW of its 40 MW data center project in Bischofsheim, just south of Frankfurt, Germany. The milestone marks Yondr’s second successful handover in Europe this year, following the opening of its first building at the company’s 100 MW London campus in July.  

Previously reported plans for a multibillion-dollar data center in Northumberland, UK, have advanced following the submission of a planning application from QTS. According to local reports, the operator’s proposed outline will see the construction of up to ten data center buildings spanning a total area of up to 540,000 square meters. 

For more of the latest data center developments, check out our latest construction highlights for December. 

AWS said its new Trainium2 chip for AI delivers 30 to 40% better price performance than current data center GPUs. (IMAGE: AWS)

AI Power Up 

Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced on Tuesday (December 3) that its latest custom AI chip, Trainium2, is now available through two new cloud services for training and deploying large AI models. 

At its AWS re:Invent conference in Las Vegas, the company said its new Amazon EC2 Trn2 instances, featuring 16 Trainium2 chips, provide 20.8 peak petaflops of compute, making it ideal for training and deploying large language models (LLMs) with billions of parameters. 

Related:Global Data Center Market Projected to Near $500 Billion by 2029

AWS also announced plans for its next-generation AI chip, the Trainium3, which is expected to be four times more performant and 40% more energy efficient than the Trainium2. 

The news follows Microsoft’s recent unveiling of two custom chips for Azure data centers at this year’s Ignite conference in Chicago. 

Other Great Reads in DCK This Week 

Discover the Future of IT Infrastructure at Gartner’s Las Vegas Conference. This year’s Gartner IT Infrastructure, Operations & Cloud Strategies Conference will explore how leaders can drive innovation in AI, cloud, and data center ops.

White Box Switches: Benefits and Best Use Cases for Data Centers. What are white box switches and when should data center operators use them? 

State of IT Report 2025: Security and AI Drive Growth Despite Economic Pressures. Spiceworks' 2025 State of IT report shows increased tech spending amid rising costs and AI investments. 

Biden Tightens Chip Controls on China as Clock Ticks Down. The Biden administration is set to announce restrictions on exports of semiconductor chips and chipmaking equipment to China. 

Intel CEO Forced Out by Board Frustrated With Slow Progress. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, hired in 2021, will leave the job after an ambitious comeback sputtered and the company fell further behind rivals. 

Introducing Informa TechTarget: A Note From the Editor-in-Chief. A change in ownership and what it means for Data Center Knowledge readers.