Microsoft has unveiled ambitious plans to transform the site of Foxconn’s abandoned LCD factory in Wisconsin into what it describes as the “world’s most powerful” AI data center, named Fairwater. The $3.3 billion project, announced on September 18, 2025, marks a dramatic revival of a development that began with high hopes in 2017 but fizzled out by the end of 2018, earning the label of a “boondoggle” after Foxconn failed to materialize its promised manufacturing hub.
The Fairwater facility will span 1.2 million square feet across three buildings on 315 acres of land. It will house “hundreds of thousands” of Nvidia GB200 GPUs, interconnected by fiber optic cables sufficient to encircle the Earth 4.5 times, as stated by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. The company asserts that this GPU cluster will be ten times more powerful than the fastest supercomputer, significantly accelerating AI training processes. Microsoft also revealed that additional Fairwater data centers are currently under construction in other parts of the United States, underscoring its expanding AI infrastructure ambitions.
Environmental sustainability is a key focus of the project, particularly amid concerns over AI’s high energy demands. The data center features an innovative closed-loop cooling system that requires filling only once before being sealed, thereby eliminating evaporation and minimizing water waste. Microsoft’s Vice Chair and President Brad Smith emphasized these eco-friendly measures during the announcement, pledging that the facility “won’t drain Lake Michigan dry.” This commitment addresses potential regional water resource strains from large-scale data operations.
