Meta, the social media giant formerly known as Facebook, is expanding its massive $1 billion data center under construction in DeKalb to nearly 2.4 million square feet, putting the college town west of Chicago at the center of its metaverse.

Slated to open next year, the five-building complex filled with servers and other computing equipment will create 200 jobs and power everything from Facebook posts to Instagram photos as one of 17 Meta data centers across the U.S.

“This is the physical backbone of all of our apps and services,” said Meta spokesman Tom Parnell.

The expansion, announced Thursday, will make the DeKalb data center one of Meta’s largest facilities, and an integral part of its ambitious plans to expand its social media platforms into an immersive virtual reality experience, Parnell said.

Meta’s bricks-and-mortar data centers supply the massive computing power needed to share information and connect users on the evolving social media platforms. The company has 14 data centers operating in the U.S., with three under construction, including DeKalb.

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