AI Data Centers: Meta’s $600B Plan, Oracle’s $18B Loan & Google’s Island Plot

Despite Michael Burry’s latest grim bet against the artificial intelligence (AI) sector—a short bet of $1.1 billion against NVIDIA (1 million shares worth $187 million) and Palantir (5 million shares worth $912 million) during Q3-2025, which also saw big tech stocks crash and wipe $730 billion in a day—AI companies continue investing big to boost AI technology like the lives of their companies depend on it.

At the rate that AI adoption is rising, the spending may be justified.

Michael Burry’s bet comes at a time when GPU leader NVIDIA’s market capitalization crossed $5 trillion at the end of October, making it the first company to breach that mark. NVIDIA was also the first one to reach $4 trillion in July 2025. Meanwhile, Palantir’s price-to-earnings ratio exceeds 400 with its revenue in billions.

It’s no wonder AI companies keep pushing heavy investments.
 

Meta’s $600 Billion AI Data Center Plan

With Meta focused on “creating the next generation of AI products and building personal superintelligence for everyone” and recognizing that data centers are crucial to achieve these goals, the company said it is investing in building industry-leading AI data centers in the United States.

How much is Meta investing?

$600 billion by 2028 in the US alone, directed towards supporting AI technology, infrastructure, and workforce expansion.

The plan builds on previous success, where the company’s data centers have supported over 30,000 skilled trade jobs and 5,000 operational jobs.

Meta’s infrastructure investments also span over $20 billion to subcontractors in the country, which includes steel workers, pipefitters, electricians, fiber technicians, and more, making the company one of the largest customers of US-based general contractors and manufacturers.

Meta’s investments include improving local infrastructure around its data centers, bringing benefits to surrounding communities. This spans roads, water systems, and energy grids, having enabled hundreds of millions of new and updated grid infrastructure, adding 15 gigawatts of new energy to grids across the country. The company plans to be water positive by 2030.

Meta said it contributed millions of dollars in programs that help low-income households pay for heating and cooling.

“As the importance of AI grows, so will the importance of data centers. We’ll continue to build and scale infrastructure for the future of AI while supporting the communities that host us,” Meta said.

 

Oracle’s $18 Billion Bank Loan

A consortium of 20 banks is set to provide leading data center operator Oracle with a loan of $18 billion to help build a data center campus in New Mexico, as per a report by Bloomberg News.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the report notes that the administrative agents on the deal include Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, BNP Paribas SA, Goldman Sachs Group, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. The loan is said to carry a four-year maturity and come with two one-year extensions. Its pricing is expected to be 2.5 percentage points over the secured overnight financing rate.

These four banks have enlisted other banks and will sell the debt to additional banks and investors.

The New Mexico data center is part of the $500 billion Stargate project that comprises Oracle, AI leader OpenAI, and SoftBank. Recently, the group expanded the Stargate initiative to Michigan, after adding 5 new sites for the project.

The development comes as The Washington Post revealed that it is among the victims of a larger cyber breach coming from Oracle software.

In a statement, the newspaper said it was one of the companies affected “by the breach of the Oracle E-Business Suite platform.”

Oracle didn’t provide a comment on the matter but had issued two advisories at the beginning of the month, alerting customers about vulnerabilities CVE-2025-61882 and CVE-2025-61884.

At the time, Google said it was likely that over 100 companies were affected by the Oracle hack.

The Washington Post’s statement came after ransomware group CLOP said the newspaper was one of its victims.
 

Google’s Tiny Australian Island Data Center

Google plans to build a large data center to fuel its AI aspirations on Christmas Island, a tiny remote Australian island located in the Indian Ocean located 350 km (220 miles) south of Indonesia, as per a report by Reuters.

The move comes after the company signed a cloud deal with the Department of Defense, and will be a valuable asset on the island, according to military experts.

While plans of the data center haven’t been reported before, details about its projected size, cost, and potential uses are still uncertain. The report says Google is in talks to acquire land near the island's airport.

However, a report by W.Media notes that while Google confirmed reports that it’s amping up activities on Christmas Island, it has denied plans that it’s building “a large AI data center.”

As per a spokesperson, the activities are a continuation of its Australia Connect work to deliver subsea cable infrastructure. The company will provide more details soon. This fits well with the plot near the airport, which is close to the sea and the capital.

Furthermore, as per an anonymous Christmas Island source, Google’s deal with Australia’s Department of Defense included “a long-term energy supply deal for a 7 MW data facility using diesel and renewable power.”

Do you think AI companies are rushing in with their infrastructure investments, or are they justified?

Let us know in the comments below!