AI Data Centers in Minnesota: Meta's Rosemount Facility Explained (2026)

Minnesota is home to a single AI data center tracked on Ban the Bots' data center map as of 2026: Meta's $800 million-plus campus in Rosemount, Dakota County, built on land tied to the University of Minnesota. That's a far smaller footprint than data-center heavyweights like Texas (seven tracked facilities) or Virginia (four tracked facilities/clusters), but it marks a real, substantial Meta investment in the Upper Midwest.

• Which companies operate AI data centers in Minnesota?
• Why is Minnesota attracting AI data center investment?
• Water and power considerations
• Minnesota's AI data center facility
• FAQ: AI data centers in Minnesota
• Conclusion: tracking Minnesota's AI buildout

Which companies operate AI data centers in Minnesota?

Meta is currently the only AI infrastructure operator with a facility tracked on this site in Minnesota. That's a notably shorter list than neighboring buildouts: OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google all operate facilities in Texas alongside Meta, and Amazon Web Services joins Microsoft, Google, and Meta in Virginia's Data Center Alley. Minnesota's AI data center buildout, so far, is a single-operator, single-site story.

Why is Minnesota attracting AI data center investment?

Three commonly cited factors help explain why Minnesota, and the Rosemount site in particular, has drawn large-scale AI infrastructure investment:

• A cool climate: Minnesota's cold winters and moderate summers are frequently cited across the data center industry as favorable for free-air and evaporative cooling, which can reduce the energy needed to keep dense AI server racks from overheating compared with hot-climate sites.
• University of Minnesota land and research ties: Meta's campus sits on UMore Park, a large research and outreach property the University of Minnesota has held and developed for decades. Siting a data center there gave Meta access to a large contiguous parcel close to the Twin Cities metro, along with proximity to the university's research base and workforce.
• An established regional grid: the Twin Cities metro area, including Dakota County, is served primarily by Xcel Energy, one of the larger regulated utilities in the Upper Midwest, giving a large power buyer an established grid and interconnection path to work with rather than building one from scratch.

Water and power considerations

Public documentation for the Rosemount campus is more limited than for some other facilities tracked on this site:

• Water sourcing: Meta has not publicly documented a water source for the Rosemount campus.
• Power capacity: Meta has not published a megawatt capacity figure for Rosemount, unlike some of its Texas sites where specific MW figures are public record.
• Grid impact: as with large AI data center campuses nationally, a single facility of this scale can meaningfully add to regional peak electricity demand, which is one reason utilities like Xcel Energy factor large new data center loads into long-term grid planning.

For the broader pattern of water and power trade-offs across every tracked state, see Ban the Bots' AI data centers near you explainer and the AI water use calculator.

Minnesota's AI data center facility

• Meta AI Data Center – Rosemount (Dakota County, operating): a 715,000 sq ft, AI-optimized campus built on the University of Minnesota's UMore Park property, announced in March 2024. Meta has invested more than $800 million in the site, which is expected to be operational in 2026 and to create around 100 jobs. Power capacity and water sourcing have not been made public for this facility.

Facility details, coordinates, and sourcing are kept current on the interactive data center map.

FAQ: AI data centers in Minnesota

How many AI data centers are in Minnesota?

Ban the Bots tracks one major AI data center facility in Minnesota as of 2026: Meta's Rosemount campus in Dakota County.

Where is the AI data center in Minnesota located?

Meta's facility is in Rosemount, Dakota County, roughly 20 miles south of the Twin Cities, on land tied to the University of Minnesota's UMore Park research property.

Why did Meta build a data center in Minnesota?

Minnesota's cool climate favors efficient cooling, the University of Minnesota's UMore Park offered a large contiguous research property near the Twin Cities, and the region has an established electric grid served primarily by Xcel Energy — all commonly cited reasons for siting large data centers in the Upper Midwest.

How big is Meta's Rosemount data center?

It's a 715,000-square-foot, AI-optimized campus, representing more than $800 million in investment and around 100 jobs, with operations expected to begin in 2026.

Does Meta's Minnesota data center use a lot of water?

Meta has not publicly documented the water source for its Rosemount facility, so its water footprint is not currently verifiable.

Conclusion: tracking Minnesota's AI buildout

Minnesota's tracked AI data center footprint is, for now, a single substantial investment rather than a sprawling multi-operator cluster like Texas or Virginia — but Meta's Rosemount campus is a real, $800 million-plus commitment built on University of Minnesota land, with power and water details that remain undisclosed. For the national picture, see the full AI data center map, and for the human and environmental impact this buildout can have on a community, see AI data centers near you: pros, cons and backlash.