Lambda plans a $33.1bn data-centre campus in rural Alabama

Lambda, which calls itself “the Superintelligence Cloud”, announced on 4 November plans for the Red Clay Technology Center campus in Lowndes County, Alabama, with estimated investment of $33.1bn. The site was prepared by Cloverleaf Infrastructure, with Lambda as the end user. Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2027 and could take up to five years, with final design details still being developed. Lambda’s post did not state the campus’s power capacity.

The campus is to be powered by Alabama Power, “pending regulatory approval.” Lambda said it would pay the full cost of the power and grid infrastructure needed to serve the facility, backed by upfront financial commitments that apply even if plans change, and that it and Alabama Power had signed the White House Ratepayer Protection Pledge. The company projected more than 1,000 construction jobs and more than 225 full-time roles, more than $2.8bn in local tax revenue through 2049, and a $10m community benefits agreement. It described closed-loop cooling designed to cut water use.

The announcement came after local disputes over the project. The Alabama Political Reporter reported that the county commission voted 3-2 on 13 October to approve tax breaks, which the paper put at more than $2.7bn in local and state abatements. A second lawsuit, filed on 3 November by Protect Lowndes County and the Alabama Rivers Alliance with Southern Environmental Law Center and Natural Resources Defense Council lawyers, alleges violations of Alabama’s Open Meetings and Open Records Acts. It says residents had been led to expect the matter at a meeting on 20 October. An earlier suit by residents alleged inadequate notice. The report named Commissioner Charlie King Jr. and the county schools superintendent among supporters, citing tax revenue and local hiring. The commission’s general counsel did not respond to a request for comment, and no ruling was reported.

The announcement came the day after the 3 November elections, which are covered in a separate entry on local ballot measures over data centres. OpenAI published its own community compact for its campuses the day after Lambda’s announcement.