Meta's newest artificial intelligence models went on sale Monday, and they were not trained in Louisiana. But the company's own descriptions make clear that its next, much larger training cluster is going up in Richland Parish, where a newly surfaced power figure is now part of a fast-moving fight before state regulators.
What Meta launched
Meta on Monday launched Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full, calling them its most capable AI models yet as it tries to compete more forcefully with OpenAI and Anthropic. Its shares rose about 4% in afternoon trading. Reuters via New Orleans CityBusiness, "Meta launches Muse Wonder AI models to challenge rivals" (Oct. 12, 2026) "Fourteen months ago, we began an overhaul of our AI efforts, and in that time we've gone from rebuilding our foundations to pushing the frontier," the company said. Reuters via New Orleans CityBusiness, "Meta launches Muse Wonder AI models to challenge rivals" (Oct. 12, 2026)
Muse Wonder is available now through the Meta Model API and Muse Code, Meta's coding tool, while the larger Muse Wonder Full is limited to Muse Code subscribers. Meta says Muse Wonder will soon power its Muse personal agent, starting with subscribers. AI at Meta, "Muse Wonder: A Frontier Model For Personal & Professional AI Agents" (Oct. 12, 2026) Developers pay $4 per million input tokens and $20 per million output tokens for Muse Wonder, which has a 1-million-token context window. Meta for Developers, "Put your ideas to work with Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full" (Oct. 12, 2026)
Meta is pitching the models at agent work: tasks in law, finance and health, long-running coding projects, and what it calls Active Memory and Active Focus, meaning the ability to carry context across conversations and keep working through blockers. AI at Meta, "Muse Wonder: A Frontier Model For Personal & Professional AI Agents" (Oct. 12, 2026) The company says Muse Wonder Full tops coding leaderboards including DeepSWE and SWE-Marathon in independent third-party runs. Meta for Developers, "Put your ideas to work with Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full" (Oct. 12, 2026) Meta's launch post cited benchmark data from the independent firm Artificial Analysis, whose website also shows Wonder among the most expensive models, Euronews reported. Euronews with AFP, "Meta launches new 'most capable' AI models. Here's what to know about them" (Oct. 13, 2026)
"Muse Wonder is a much larger and more advanced class of models that brings us to the frontier," CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted on X. Euronews with AFP, "Meta launches new 'most capable' AI models. Here's what to know about them" (Oct. 13, 2026) Meta called it "our most aligned model to date" and said a full report with additional safety evaluations "will be available soon." AI at Meta, "Muse Wonder: A Frontier Model For Personal & Professional AI Agents" (Oct. 12, 2026)
Trained in Ohio, with Louisiana next
Meta says both models were "trained at our gigawatt-scale Prometheus data center." AI at Meta, "Muse Wonder: A Frontier Model For Personal & Professional AI Agents" (Oct. 12, 2026) Prometheus is Meta's one-gigawatt-scale AI supercluster in New Albany, Ohio, a campus of dozens of buildings and hundreds of thousands of GPUs, according to a September talk by Meta infrastructure chief Santosh Janardhan reported by GamesBeat. GamesBeat, "How Meta built a 1GW data center in Ohio and is planning for a 5GW data center in Louisiana" (Sept. 23, 2026)
Janardhan said Meta plans to take the lessons of Prometheus to Hyperion, a five-gigawatt cluster in Richland Parish that he described as "Manhattan-sized" and expected to require the energy output of 10 natural gas power plants. "We think it's the biggest data center ever constructed on the planet," he said. GamesBeat, "How Meta built a 1GW data center in Ohio and is planning for a 5GW data center in Louisiana" (Sept. 23, 2026)
Meta's own July announcement says the Richland Parish site is being expanded to 5 GW of compute capacity, the largest in its fleet, and will house Hyperion, "our largest multi-gigawatt AI training cluster." The company put the investment at more than $50 billion, with over 7,500 jobs at peak construction and 1,000 once operational. Meta Data Centers, "Deepening our investment in Richland Parish, Louisiana" (July 13, 2026)
In other words, Muse Wonder shows what a one-gigawatt cluster produced. Meta has not said which models Hyperion will train, but it is the site the company is building for training at roughly five times that scale. AI at Meta, "Muse Wonder: A Frontier Model For Personal & Professional AI Agents" (Oct. 12, 2026) Meta Data Centers, "Deepening our investment in Richland Parish, Louisiana" (July 13, 2026)
The 4,500-megawatt number
The day Meta launched Muse Wonder, Red River Radio reported that Entergy CEO Phillip May had disclosed the Richland Parish center's expected peak power demand: 4,500 megawatts, about four times the peak demand of the entire city of New Orleans. Red River Radio, "Entergy Louisiana CEO Accidentally Reveals Meta AI Data Center Peak Power Demand" (Oct. 12, 2026) The station reported that Entergy and Meta had fought to keep that number private for months, telling regulators that revealing it could expose them to business harms, while ratepayer advocates fought in court to obtain it. Red River Radio, "Entergy Louisiana CEO Accidentally Reveals Meta AI Data Center Peak Power Demand" (Oct. 12, 2026)
That figure is the basis the companies use to justify ten new gas plants to power the facility, according to the report. May was defending the plants ahead of an expedited Louisiana Public Service Commission vote that could come as early as November. Red River Radio, "Entergy Louisiana CEO Accidentally Reveals Meta AI Data Center Peak Power Demand" (Oct. 12, 2026) (Meta's 5 GW figure measures compute capacity, a different metric from peak electrical demand. Meta Data Centers, "Deepening our investment in Richland Parish, Louisiana" (July 13, 2026) Red River Radio, "Entergy Louisiana CEO Accidentally Reveals Meta AI Data Center Peak Power Demand" (Oct. 12, 2026))
Who pays
Meta says its latest Entergy agreement will fund seven new gas-fueled plants, three grid-scale batteries, nuclear uprates and other purchased power, and will deliver about $2 billion in savings for Entergy Louisiana customers on top of $650 million announced earlier. It also pledged $215 million for Entergy's Power to Care and efficiency programs and committed to help fund up to 2.5 GW of clean and renewable generation. Meta Data Centers, "Deepening our investment in Richland Parish, Louisiana" (July 13, 2026)
Not everyone is reassured. In an Oct. 1 Q&A, Tulane Law's Haley Gentry noted that the commission approved three gas plants for the project in August 2025 and is using its expedited "Lightning Amendment" process to review Entergy's application for seven more, a process that does not require Entergy to prove the plan is the "least cost option." Tulane Law School, "What does Louisiana's AI Data Center Boom Mean for the State?" (Oct. 1, 2026) Meta agreed to finance initial energy infrastructure at about $2.6 billion under a 20-year contract, she wrote, but such facilities can last upwards of 30 years. She also flagged that state officials, including the governor, signed nondisclosure agreements with Meta. Tulane Law School, "What does Louisiana's AI Data Center Boom Mean for the State?" (Oct. 1, 2026)
Why it matters for Louisiana
The frontier-model race is often covered as a contest between labs and benchmarks. Monday's launch is a reminder that each new generation depends on physical buildouts, and Meta has chosen Richland Parish for its biggest one. AI at Meta, "Muse Wonder: A Frontier Model For Personal & Professional AI Agents" (Oct. 12, 2026) GamesBeat, "How Meta built a 1GW data center in Ohio and is planning for a 5GW data center in Louisiana" (Sept. 23, 2026) That makes decisions in Baton Rouge about generation, ratepayer protections and disclosure part of how the next round of AI gets built. Red River Radio, "Entergy Louisiana CEO Accidentally Reveals Meta AI Data Center Peak Power Demand" (Oct. 12, 2026) Tulane Law School, "What does Louisiana's AI Data Center Boom Mean for the State?" (Oct. 1, 2026)
What to watch
- **The PSC vote:** Red River Radio reports a commission vote on Entergy's new gas plants could come as early as November; Tulane's Q&A pointed to December. Red River Radio, "Entergy Louisiana CEO Accidentally Reveals Meta AI Data Center Peak Power Demand" (Oct. 12, 2026) Tulane Law School, "What does Louisiana's AI Data Center Boom Mean for the State?" (Oct. 1, 2026)
- **Meta's safety report:** The company says a fuller Muse Wonder safety evaluation is coming soon. AI at Meta, "Muse Wonder: A Frontier Model For Personal & Professional AI Agents" (Oct. 12, 2026)
- **Hyperion's first models:** Whether the models that follow Muse Wonder are trained in Richland Parish, the cluster Meta says it is building on the lessons of Prometheus. Meta Data Centers, "Deepening our investment in Richland Parish, Louisiana" (July 13, 2026) GamesBeat, "How Meta built a 1GW data center in Ohio and is planning for a 5GW data center in Louisiana" (Sept. 23, 2026)
Evidence Used
- AI at Meta, "Muse Wonder: A Frontier Model For Personal & Professional AI Agents" (Oct. 12, 2026)
- Meta for Developers, "Put your ideas to work with Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full" (Oct. 12, 2026)
- Reuters via New Orleans CityBusiness, "Meta launches Muse Wonder AI models to challenge rivals" (Oct. 12, 2026)
- Euronews with AFP, "Meta launches new 'most capable' AI models. Here's what to know about them" (Oct. 13, 2026)
- GamesBeat, "How Meta built a 1GW data center in Ohio and is planning for a 5GW data center in Louisiana" (Sept. 23, 2026)
- Meta Data Centers, "Deepening our investment in Richland Parish, Louisiana" (July 13, 2026)
- Red River Radio, "Entergy Louisiana CEO Accidentally Reveals Meta AI Data Center Peak Power Demand" (Oct. 12, 2026)
- Tulane Law School, "What does Louisiana's AI Data Center Boom Mean for the State?" (Oct. 1, 2026)