Tech giant Meta has unveiled ambitious plans to construct some of the largest artificial intelligence data centres on the planet, pledging to invest hundreds of billions of dollars over the next few years.

In a post on Threads, Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company will establish several multi-gigawatt AI hubs across the United States — including one with a footprint as large as Manhattan.

The first facility, dubbed Prometheus, is already under construction in New Albany, Ohio, and is expected to be operational by 2026. A second, named Hyperion, will be located in Louisiana and could go live by 2030.

“These centres are part of our roadmap toward developing superintelligence — AI systems that can think and process information faster than humans,” Zuckerberg explained. “We’re building multiple titan clusters. Just one of these spans a significant portion of Manhattan.”

The push into AI follows Meta’s strong financial performance in 2024, when the company earned more than $160 billion in revenue, largely from digital advertising. Now, the social media parent of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads is repositioning itself as a leader in artificial intelligence.

Analysts say the scale of Meta’s AI infrastructure could make it a dominant player in the field. “Clearly, Zuckerberg intends to spend his way to the top of the AI heap,” said Karl Freund of Cambrian AI Research in a statement to the BBC. “The talent he’s hiring will be working with some of the best AI hardware in the world.”

Following the announcement, Meta’s shares rose by 1 percent, bringing its year-to-date gain to over 20 percent.

However, environmental concerns are growing. Experts warn that AI data centres consume enormous amounts of energy and water. A recent study estimates that global AI infrastructure could require as much as 1.7 trillion gallons of water annually by 2027 — raising serious sustainability questions as the AI race heats up.