Meta Platforms has broken ground on a new AI-optimised data center in east Tulsa, Oklahoma, representing an investment of more than $1 billion and marking the company’s first facility in the state, its 28th in the United States, and its 32nd globally. The facility, located at Fair Oaks Innovation Park near 11th Street and the Creek Turnpike, will span more than 2 million square feet and is designed to support Meta’s AI workloads, underpinning the platforms that power Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Fortis Construction is serving as general contractor for the project. Formerly known internally as Project Anthem, the data center is the first to be constructed within the Tulsa city limits and positions Meta as the anchor tenant at Fair Oaks Innovation Park, a 2,000-acre industrial and innovation campus in east Tulsa. The groundbreaking ceremony on April 21, 2026, was attended by Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt alongside state and local leaders and Meta representatives. The facility is expected to be operational by 2028, with more than 1,000 construction workers anticipated on site at peak activity and approximately 100 permanent operational roles created upon completion. Alongside the core capital investment, Meta has committed more than $25 million to local infrastructure improvements, covering road upgrades and water infrastructure serving the site and surrounding area.

The Tulsa groundbreaking is one data point in a much larger story unfolding across the American interior: major technology companies are increasingly looking beyond the traditional coastal data center corridors of Virginia, the Pacific Northwest and Texas to secure power, land and water at competitive rates. Oklahoma’s position as a net energy exporter gives it a structural advantage in this dynamic. The state produces more electricity than it consumes, and that surplus underpins the kind of power reliability and affordability that hyperscale data center operators require at scale. Meta’s commitment to matching 100% of the facility’s electricity use with clean energy, combined with its pledge to add over 1,500 megawatts of renewable energy capacity to the Oklahoma grid, reflects both genuine sustainability targets and a calculated public positioning in a sector that faces growing scrutiny from communities and regulators concerned about energy demand, water consumption and local infrastructure strain. That community concern was visible at the Tulsa groundbreaking itself, where protesters gathered outside to raise concerns about electric rate impacts, noise pollution and the construction burden on local roads. Meta’s response, structuring a fund through the Tulsa Community Foundation to support residents struggling with water and energy bills and committing to pay the full costs of the facility’s utility usage rather than passing them on to consumers, suggests the company has learned from the backlash that has followed data center announcements in other jurisdictions and is attempting to get ahead of that narrative in Oklahoma from the outset. This trend is also being reinforced by other major AI-driven infrastructure investments across the Mountain West, including the USD 2 billion Utah AI data center project backed by JPMorgan and Starwood, which further illustrates how capital is rapidly shifting toward large-scale compute facilities in power-rich inland states.

Facility Design, Sustainability Commitments and Community Investment

• Total investment: more than $1 billion
• Site area: more than 2 million square feet at Fair Oaks Innovation Park, east Tulsa
• Purpose-built for AI workload optimisation supporting Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Meta’s broader AI ambitions
• General Contractor: Fortis Construction
• Cooling system: closed-loop, liquid-cooled recirculating system designed to use zero water for the majority of the year
• Energy: 100% clean energy matching for all electricity consumed; Meta adding over 1,500 megawatts of clean energy to the Oklahoma grid
• Meta to pay full costs of energy and water/wastewater service so costs are not passed to consumers
• Infrastructure investment: more than $25 million in local road and water infrastructure improvements
• Water restoration: 10-year partnership with Phytech deploying plant-sensor irrigation technology across approximately 1,500 acres of Tulsa-area farmland, saving over 50 million gallons of water per year
• Water positive target: Meta committed to restoring more water to local watersheds than consumed by 2030
• Community grant: Eastside Rise receiving a grant to expand neighbourhood enhancement programming across east Tulsa, covering community gardens, public art and home repair programmes
• Workforce development: partnership with Tulsa Tech and Tulsa Community College for a cross-institutional learning lab targeting 200+ annual graduates in cooling simulation, fiber optics, structured cabling, AI and data analytics
• Financial assistance fund: partnership with Tulsa Community Foundation to support residents struggling with water bills or requiring water service line repair
• Energy assistance: annual contribution to the Public Service Company of Oklahoma’s Light a Life programme, providing financial assistance to Oklahomans struggling with energy bills

Project Fact Sheet

• Project Name: Project Anthem (Meta Platforms Tulsa Data Center)
• Developer/Owner: Meta Platforms (parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp)
• Location: Fair Oaks Innovation Park, East Tulsa, Oklahoma (near 11th Street and Creek Turnpike)
• General Contractor: Fortis Construction
• Total Investment: more than $1 billion
• Infrastructure Investment: more than $25 million in local road and water improvements
• Gross Floor Area: more than 2 million square feet
• Facility Type: AI-optimised hyperscale data center
• Facility Rank: Meta’s 28th US data center; 32nd globally; first in Oklahoma; first data center within Tulsa city limits
• Anchor Tenant Status: First anchor tenant at Fair Oaks Innovation Park
• Groundbreaking Date: April 21, 2026
• Expected Operational Date: 2028
• Construction Jobs (Peak): more than 1,000
• Permanent Operational Jobs: approximately 100
• Energy Commitment: 100% clean energy matching; over 1,500 MW of new clean energy added to Oklahoma grid
• Cooling System: Closed-loop liquid-cooled; zero water consumption for majority of year
• Sustainability Target: Water positive by 2030

Project Team

• Owner/Developer: Meta Platforms — parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads; CEO Mark Zuckerberg is directing hundreds of billions of dollars in AI infrastructure investment as part of the company’s superintelligence strategy
• Vice President, Data Center Strategy and Development, Meta: Gary Demasi — served as Meta’s primary spokesperson at the Tulsa groundbreaking press conference and represents the data center programme at executive level
• General Contractor: Fortis Construction — appointed as the principal construction delivery contractor for the full Tulsa facility build
• State Government: Governor Kevin Stitt, State of Oklahoma — attended the groundbreaking ceremony and championed the project as reflective of Oklahoma’s business-friendly climate and energy surplus position
• City of Tulsa: Mayor’s Office of Economic Development, represented by Erran Persley at the groundbreaking ceremony
• Community Partner (Neighbourhood): Eastside Rise — east Tulsa nonprofit receiving a Meta grant to expand neighbourhood enhancement programming
• Workforce Development Partners: Tulsa Tech and Tulsa Community College — joint delivery of a new cross-institutional digital infrastructure careers programme targeting 200+ annual graduates
• Water Restoration Partner: Phytech — agricultural technology firm delivering a 10-year irrigation efficiency programme across approximately 1,500 acres of Tulsa-area farmland
• Community Foundation Partner: Tulsa Community Foundation — administering a Meta-funded assistance programme for residents facing water bill hardship or water service infrastructure needs
• Energy Assistance Partner: Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) — administering Meta’s annual contribution to the Light a Life programme via PSO’s partnership with the Salvation Army