The landmark announcement last November of Meta’s $10 billion investment to build a data center in Richland Parish, along with news two months later of Hut 8’s plans to build a $2.5 billion data center in West Feliciana Parish signaled that the AI juggernaut had spread to Louisiana, Business Report writes in its latest issue.
In August, Alabama-based Radiance Technologies, which has offices in Baton Rouge, announced plans to invest $370 million in a new microchip packaging facility in Ruston, part of a national priority to reshore components of the microchip industry.
The business wins suggest Louisiana is positioned to respond to current tech trends, including soaring demand for large language model data centers—massive facilities that benefit from reasonably priced available land and access to energy. Meta’s planned hyperscale data center in north Louisiana is the largest of its more than 20 centers around the world, according to Louisiana Economic Development.
But there’s more to the state’s tech strategy than just big announcements, officials say. Singular projects, while significant, are joined by a new economic development strategy that sees tech not just as its own vertical, but as a complement to existing legacy industries, including oil and gas, advanced manufacturing, health care and shipbuilding.
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