Meta, BlackRock form $14 billion venture to develop AI data center campus in Texas Proactive uses images sourced from ShutterstockMeta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META, XETRA:FB2A, SIX:FB) and BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK) have formed a joint venture to develop and operate a large-scale artificial intelligence data center campus in El Paso, Texas, as Meta looks to expand the infrastructure supporting its AI ambitions. The venture will develop and own the data center campus, which is currently under construction and is expected to provide 1 gigawatt of compute capacity when it begins coming online in 2028. Under the agreement, funds managed by BlackRock will own an 80% interest in the venture, while Meta will retain a 20% stake. Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote that the partnership would allow the company to scale its AI infrastructure efforts more quickly. The partnership comes as technology companies invest heavily in data center capacity to support the development and deployment of AI models.