Meta & BlackRock's Texas Deal Sets Stage for Compute Infrastructure Boom

Meta and BlackRock are teaming up to build a major data center facility in Texas. This joint venture is a significant development in the race for AI infrastructure, with both companies acknowledging that power and compute challenges have been limiting the growth of AI models.

The campus will be built on a site selected due to its availability of energy and supportive legislation. While no exact details have been released regarding the capacity provided by the two parties, this project is seen as a manifestation of a wider trend: data centers are becoming increasingly important for both AI and blockchain development.

The mining of crypto and other blockchain activities face the same problem, they consume limited resources such as electricity, semiconductors, and heat dissipation. BlackRock's institutional entry into this space is an indication that compute infrastructure is undergoing financialization similar to real estate or energy.