Meta's Hyperion data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana carries a $10 billion price tag. The state is offering $3.3 billion in tax breaks through a 20-year sales tax exemption on equipment, including the GPUs powering AI models. Richland Parish commissioners approved the deal last July, routing the benefits to Laidley LLC, a Meta affiliate. That subsidy alone matches more than seven years of Louisiana's entire police budget.

States are competing fiercely for data center investment. Virginia hands out $1.9 billion annually, Georgia $2.6 billion, and Texas recently raised its incentives from $150 million to over $1 billion. More than 3,000 data centers are planned or under construction nationwide. But public resistance is mounting—local opposition blocked 48 projects in 2025, and a Gallup poll found 70% of Americans oppose data centers near their homes.

Meta touts 5,000 construction jobs and $300 million for local infrastructure. Yet Kasia Tarczynska from Good Jobs First calls these subsidies wasteful for an industry that doesn't need public support. At least nine states are considering repealing their data center tax incentives entirely.