Meta Weighs Overseas Data Centers as US Approvals Stall
Political opposition in Ohio and Texas is complicating Meta's plans for new American data centre projects.
Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Data Centers
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Meta is considering a larger international data centre footprint as newly elected governors in Ohio and Texas signal support for tighter restrictions on new construction. Dina Powell McCormick, Meta's president, acknowledged that securing approval for new US projects is likely to become more difficult.
Why it matters
Political resistance to data centres in the United States could slow the buildout of computing capacity that Meta says it needs for its AI ambitions. Expanding overseas may become a more attractive path where approvals are easier to obtain.
Finding enough computing power consumes nearly 80% of Powell McCormick's time at Meta, which is prepared to spend as much as $145 billion this year. The company's planned stock offerings could raise as much as $97.5 billion, though the extraction does not detail how that capital will be deployed across sites.
The players
Meta
Meta is the technology company that operates Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp and is pursuing large-scale AI infrastructure.
Dina Powell McCormick
Powell McCormick is Meta's president, a former Trump administration official and banker who now oversees the company's computing capacity push.
Amy Acton
Amy Acton is Ohio's newly elected governor who has backed a conditional pause on new data centre construction in the state.
Gina Hinojosa
Gina Hinojosa is a Texas Democrat who has called for a halt to new data centre approvals until stronger safeguards are introduced.
The details
Meta is building the Hyperion data centre in Louisiana, the Prometheus data centre in Ohio, and a facility in Texas through its partnership with BlackRock. Powell McCormick made these remarks at the Wall Street Journal's Tech conference on Wednesday, saying opposition to data centres featured prominently in campaign advertising and exit polls.
Timeline
Last month, Meta announced plans for a new class of non-voting shares for future equity fundraising.
In the third quarter of 2026, Meta reported negative free cash flow of $2.12 billion.
A week later, Meta unveiled a proposal to raise as much as $97.5 billion through a series of stock offerings.
On Wednesday, Powell McCormick discussed data centre approval challenges at the Wall Street Journal Tech conference.
Roadmap
The 2026 midterm elections brought data centre opposition into the political mainstream, with Democratic gains translating into calls for tighter construction limits in states such as Ohio and Texas. Meta's pivot to weighing overseas sites reflects a broader industry race to secure computing capacity as domestic approvals grow harder to win.
Stricter data centre rules in states like Ohio and Texas could affect where new cloud and AI services are built and how quickly they reach users. Residents near proposed sites may see more public review and a voice in approvals before construction moves forward.
The takeaway
Local approval fights are becoming a central constraint on where large computing infrastructure gets built. Watch state governors and local permitting boards, because their decisions will shape the pace of the AI buildout.
Further reading
For more on the infrastructure behind this fight, see Data Centers coverage on how new facilities are approved and built.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Mint.
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