EDMONTON — Facebook and Instagram's parent company, Meta Platforms, is set to invest roughly $13 billion in an artificial intelligence data centre in Sturgeon County, according to Western Standard sources.The news comes ahead of Premier Danielle Smith's news conference scheduled for Wednesday, in which the UCP government will announce a "major investment" in Alberta's technology and AI sector. Meta's investment comes on the heels of the UCP approving a $4.6 billion natural gas-powered electricity private project aimed at fueling a data centre in Sturgeon County on July 2.Juno was the first to break the news of the Meta investment..Though the exact total is still in flux, Meta's investment would make it the latest funding poured into Alberta's technology centre, as Smith continues to push for Alberta to become a meaningful player in the global AI race, targeting over $100 billion in investments by 2030. "What you’re going to see later this summer is some gigawatt-scale announcements,” said Technology and Innovation Minister Nate Glubish at the Global Energy Show in June. “These are shovels in the ground, permits complete, financing in place, and we’re 12 to 18 months away from the first campus being turned on.”.There are numerous data centre projects proposed or under development in Alberta, including the highly publicized $70 billion Wonder Valley AI Data Centre near Grande Prairie, backed by celebrity investor Kevin O'Leary.Meta's investment checks off one of Smith's targeted potential investors, as she has said she aims to attract either them or Elon Musk's SpaceXAI to Alberta. Perhaps the connection should not come as a surprise; however, a source told the Western Standard that Smith and Meta's founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, share an interest in protecting free speech. .Alberta's goals have not been without opposition, as individuals have expressed concerns about the ecological, energy, and noise impacts that accompany AI data centres. Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation is seeking a judicial review to overturn the Government of Alberta's decision to grant the Wonder Valley project water-use permits to help fuel hydropower for the data centre, claiming that the government failed to fulfill its duty to consult before issuing them. The UCP have said businesses looking to build and operate data centres will have to supply their own power without subtracting from Alberta's electricity grid.
