Microsoft is building what it calls the world's most powerful AI datacenter in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, with construction on track for completion in early 2026. The company announced an additional USD 4 billion investment to build a second data center of similar size and scale over the next three years, bringing its total investment in Wisconsin to more than USD 7 billion.

The first facility, named Fairwater, represents Microsoft's initial USD 3.3 billion investment pledge. The company has already begun hiring full-time employees to support its operation and employed more than 3,000 construction workers during daily peak activity, including electricians, plumbers and pipefitters, carpenters, structural iron and steelworkers, concrete workers, and Earth movers.

Technical Specifications and Capabilities

The Mount Pleasant facility is engineered to train the next decade of artificial intelligence and will house hundreds of thousands of the world's most powerful NVIDIA GPUs. These processors operate in seamless clusters connected by enough fiber to wrap the planet four times over and will handle training for frontier AI models, delivering ten times the performance of today's fastest supercomputers.

The data center is designed to help AI researchers and engineers build the world's most advanced models, test ideas faster, and operate more efficiently. Microsoft states this facility will serve as the location where the next generation of AI will be trained, with new discoveries in medicine, science, and other critical fields, starting with the models trained in Wisconsin.

Environmental and Sustainability Features

More than 90 percent of the facility relies on a state-of-the-art closed-loop liquid cooling system, filled during construction and recirculated continuously. The remaining portion uses outside air for cooling, switching to water only on the hottest days to minimize environmental impact and maximize operational efficiency. The datacenter's annual water use is modest, requiring roughly the amount of water a typical restaurant uses annually or what an 18-hole golf course consumes weekly in peak summer.

Microsoft is pre-paying for the energy and electrical infrastructure it will use to ensure prices remain stable and protect consumers from future cost increases because of the data center. The company will match every kilowatt-hour it consumes that comes from a fossil fuel source one for one with carbon-free energy put back onto the grid. This includes a new 250 MW solar project in Portage County, which is currently under construction, to support this commitment.

Microsoft's partnership with WE Energies ensures the company will continually explore and add energy transmission, generation, and usage under transparent tariffs that support grid reliability.

Employment and Economic Impact

Once the first data center is fully operational, Microsoft will employ approximately 500 full-time employees, with that number expected to grow to around 800 once the second data center is complete. The facility creates pathways for Wisconsinites in union construction roles and long-term careers in operations and IT. Microsoft partnered with Gateway Technical College in Racine to launch Wisconsin's first Datacenter Academy, which will train more than 1,000 students in five years for high-demand datacenter roles.

Across the state, Microsoft and more than 40 partners, including the United Way, the University of Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Technical College System, have worked with Gener8tor to train 114,000 people in AI, including 1,400 people living in Racine County.

Community Partnerships and Initiatives

The company sponsored and helped establish the nation's first manufacturing-focused AI Co-Innovation Lab on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's campus. This lab results from a partnership among UW-Milwaukee, WEDC, Gateway Technical College, and TitletownTech, a collaboration between Microsoft and the Green Bay Packers. The lab has already helped 23 Wisconsin companies, including Regal Rexnord, Renaissant, and BW Converting, turn AI ideas into real solutions.

Some of these companies are headquartered in Racine County, including Wiscon Products, a family-owned precision machining company founded in 1945. Local companies, from manufacturers to startups, can partner with Microsoft engineers to turn AI ideas into real solutions. Microsoft joined forces with Root-Pike Watershed Initiative Network (WIN) to restore prairie and wetland habitats in Racine and Kenosha counties, funding 20 ecological restoration projects.

These include Cliffside Park along the shores of Lake Michigan, Lamparek Creek in Mount Pleasant, Kirkorian Park in the Village of Sturtevant, and Shagbark Restoration Area in Kenosha. To help more Wisconsinites access advanced technology, Microsoft expanded broadband access to more than 9,300 rural residents and delivered next-generation service to 1,200 homes and businesses in Sturtevant, bringing faster, more reliable internet to the places where people live, work, and learn.

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