Meta Gets $3.3 Billion Tax Break for $10 Billion Louisiana Data Center

Meta will receive $3.3 billion in tax breaks over the next 20 years for its Hyperion data center under construction in Richland Parish, Louisiana. This amount exceeds seven years' worth of the entire Louisiana state police budget.

In the US, 36 states currently offer tax breaks for data center construction. Key examples:

• Virginia: $1.9 billion annually
• Georgia: $2.6 billion annually
• Texas: surged 567% from $150 million in 2024 to $1 billion in 2025
• Indiana's Amazon facility: $8.2 billion in total breaks

Big Tech companies are projected to invest $700 billion in AI infrastructure this year alone. Hyperion is expected to bring in approximately $35 billion worth of GPUs, and will save $3.3 billion through exemption from state and local sales tax (9.56%).

Backlash is also intensifying. In 2025 alone, 48 data center projects (totaling $156 billion) were halted due to local resident opposition, and a Gallup survey found that 7 out of 10 Americans oppose data center construction in their own area.

28 states are discussing amendments to existing tax break systems, and 9 states including Virginia are considering completely eliminating data center tax breaks.

Kasia Tarczynska, a researcher at Good Jobs First, criticized the practice, saying "a rapidly growing industry doesn't need public support, and this is a wasteful subsidy."