Meta Cancels Work On 2 Data Centre Buildings In Denmark: Report

The Facebook parent will now focus on a new type of data centre used for artificial intelligence (AI).

Meta's traditional data centres house servers for apps such as Facebook and Instagram. Representative image.

Social networking giant Meta seems to have paused or cancelled work on two of its data centre buildings in Odense, Denmark, the media has reported. The Facebook parent will now focus on a new type of data centre used for artificial intelligence (AI), a company spokesperson was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters on Thursday.

"Over the past month, we have announced a number of measures to make us a more streamlined organisation," Peter Münster, Meta Spokesperson was quoted as saying by the report.

Meta's traditional data centres house servers for apps such as Facebook and Instagram. However, the calculations needed for AI require a new generation of data centres, the Meta spokesperson said. The primary contractor of the data centre, Aarsleff said that work was already underway, but the company's contract has been terminated, which was reportedly worth DKK 2.4 billion, which roughly translates into $343 million.

"The work on the data centre was in progress and will be stopped immediately as a consequence of the termination of the contract," Aarsleff said in a statement to shareholders that warned it would impact its financial impact, according to a report by publication Data Center Dynamics.

To recall, last month, Meta said that the company is laying off more than 11,000 employees, which is 13 per cent of its total workforce, after a steep slide in digital ad revenue and profit. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said: "The most difficult changes we've made in Meta's history."

"I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here. I know this is tough for everyone, and I’m especially sorry to those impacted." 

The mass layoff is the first broad head-count reduction to occur in Meta's (earlier Facebook) 18-year history. The Facebook and Instagram parent company reported over 87,000 employees (as of September). Meta, the parent company of Facebook along with Instagram and WhatsApp, had more than 87,000 employees by September end. During the company's earnings call in October, Zuckerberg said: "In 2023, we're going to focus our investments on a small number of high-priority growth areas."