World’s most powerful supercomputer project completed in Wisconsin

Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday announced it has completed its first data center facility in Mount Pleasant. With the more than 1-million-square-foot structure fully operational, construction crews will build the second data center facility in Racine County.

Microsoft announced the megaproject in May 2024. It opened the gates for tech companies building massive data centers across Wisconsin including Meta and Vantage Data Centers building in Beaver Dam and Port Washington respectively. National data center construction has been credited for both keeping construction companies busy and blamed for driving up materials and labor prices.

The Mount Pleasant data center employed nearly 10,000 construction workers for roughly two years since work started, Microsoft officials said. Chicago-based Walsh Construction led construction services with help from contractors and subcontractors across Wisconsin, as well as local union labor.

Nearly 550 full-time employees will support the first facility, and that number is expected to grow to 800 when the second data center is completed.

“With our Fairwater data center now fully operational, Wisconsin is now home to the world’s most powerful supercomputer,” said Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft, in a statement. “This campus will help power the next generation of AI innovation globally and provide long-term economic opportunity locally through hundreds of highly skilled jobs and continued investment in the region.”

The first Microsoft data center investment was around $3.3 billion. In September 2025, the company announced a $4 billion investment in a second facility in Mount Pleasant to support advanced artificial intelligence. The next buildout will take around three years and will be similar in size and scale to the nearby first facility.

In January 2026, Mount Pleasant officials approved Microsoft’s plans to build 15 more data centers in the village, CNBC reported. The additional capacity will allow Microsoft “to recognize revenue that it has booked from OpenAI and other clients,” according to the report. It’s part of a technological race to train and run generative AI models.

Ahead of construction, Microsoft bought land formerly set aside for Foxconn Technology Group. Foxconn broke ground on an advanced manufacturing campus eight years ago, but the resulting buildout has been limited. Microsoft owns around 2,000 acres and its project covered around 315 acres.

Microsoft estimates it will have spent $4.7 billion between 2024 and 2028 on hyperscale construction in Wisconsin, officials said. The company bought from 29 businesses across 11 Wisconsin counties, with ripple effects reaching more local companies through supplier networks, subcontracting, logistics and other services.

Currently, crews are working on foundation installation, steel erection and underground utility placement for the second data center. The project is expected to be completed in 2028.

Data center project used wealth of local labor and materials

Mount Pleasant officials celebrated the completion of the data center as a milestone for the community and an opportunity for growth.

“Microsoft’s decision to invest here elevates our community into a destination for innovation and advancement,” said Dave DeGroot, village president of Mount Pleasant, in a statement. “As this campus continues to grow, it will create lasting opportunities for residents, strengthen our regional economy and help position Wisconsin for long-term success.”

The company bought directly from construction suppliers in Racine County, contractors and steel fabricators in Outagamie and Marathon counties, electrical equipment manufacturers in Rock and Columbia counties and machinery manufacturers in La Crosse County, company officials said.

“I’m very proud of the work our members have done to build this facility,” said Michael Ervin, organizing director of Operating Engineers Local 139, in a statement. “Since day one, they have helped build it safely, professionally and with pride in their craft. This isn’t an ordinary construction project — our members are getting the chance to work on some of the most advanced infrastructure, and those skills and experiences will stay with them throughout their careers.”

The company has also led community initiatives including a AI Co-Innovation Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus and funding restoration of Lamparek Creek, connected to the Pike River in Kenosha.

Fairwater is made up of three buildings with a combined 1.2 million square feet, Microsoft officials said in a blog post. The facility used 46.6 miles of deep foundation piles, 26.5 million pounds of structural steel, 120 miles of medium-voltage underground cable and 72.6 miles of mechanical piping.

The data center is built to work as one massive AI supercomputer using a single flat networking connecting hundreds of thousands of NVIDA graphics processing units, officials said. It will deliver ten times the performance of the world’s fastest supercomputer today and that the processing speed will be used to help train AI and inference workloads.