Meta is quietly undergoing one of the most radical transformations in Big Tech—shifting from a social media company into a future power utility. The clearest sign is its new subsidiary, Atom Energy, which has officially filed to trade electricity like a regulated power company.
This move is driven by one simple reality: AI systems consume staggering amounts of energy.
Meta’s upcoming Hyperion data centre in Louisiana illustrates the scale. The facility will require 5 GW of electricity, nearly three times the annual consumption of New Orleans. Spread across 4 million square feet and costing $10 billion, Hyperion will be powered by three dedicated gas-fired plants.
This is no longer just a data centre. It is Meta’s strategy to secure, finance, and trade energy as a core business advantage.
Across the industry, an AI electricity arms race is accelerating. OpenAI’s Stargate project alone needs 10 GW, more than New York City’s grid. Microsoft is turning to nuclear power, helping revive Three Mile Island for an 835 MW supply.
Elon Musk’s xAI has deployed diesel generators and gas turbines after facing grid shortages. Meanwhile, Google, which has traded power since 2010, uses AI to cut cooling energy by 40%.
Even Anthropic warns that the U.S. will require 50 GW of AI power by 2028.
The competitive edge in AI now lies not in chips, but in who controls the electricity. Power determines model size, deployment speed, costs, and market dominance.
Meta’s pivot shows that tech companies are evolving into power companies—building plants, trading energy, and even reviving old reactors.
Meta isn’t expanding cloud capacity; it’s building the energy backbone of the AI era.
In the new AI race, the grid is the battlefield—and power is the prize.
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