Overview
- Independent permit reviews and satellite images published in early June show Meta erected multiple 125,000-square-foot rapid-deployment tents at its New Albany, Ohio campus to house AI servers.
- City permits reviewed by Cleanview indicate construction of the Ohio tent structures began in April–June 2026 and the tents were completed within weeks of those filings.
- Meta is pairing the tented enclosures with behind-the-meter power, including on-site gas turbines or jet-engine-style generators, so the sites can run without immediate grid hookups.
- Company sources and reporting say the tactic aims to cut build time roughly in half and lower capital expense as Meta pursues a multiyear, multibillion-dollar data center expansion plan.
- The move follows industry precedents from Tesla and xAI and raises trade-offs for reliability, security, permitting, and environmental impacts that regulators and local communities may now scrutinize.