ST. FRANCISVILLE — Artificial intelligence is quickly evolving and Louisiana is setting itself up to be a leader in technology with newly announced data centers like the $12.5 billion Hut 8 Data Center in West Feliciana Parish.

Louisiana State University Professor Andrew Schwarz told the Baton Rouge Press Club on Monday that the announcement of AI data centers like the ones in West Feliciana and Richland parishes are attracting businesses that would invest in the state as a new hub for computing technology.

Schwarz said he predicts business deals will come by the end of the year, adding that the data processing and computing power of these centers will attract investments. There are even rumors of deals being made with Meta, Facebook's parent company, to come to the Hut 8 center, Schwarz said.

“What you’re going to start to see is researchers in private sectors take advantage of all that to push the boundaries and create all that and the applications that can impact the state. Maybe around healthcare, finance and maybe manufacturing,” Schwarz said.

He said economic benefits will also create loads of new jobs. Schwarz added that it's important for local residents to gain skills needed for these jobs rather than the centers relying on outsiders.

“So the hope is that we can leverage and use up our existing system of higher education to train our existing citizens around data center management and data center engineering so that way it prepares jobs for them as well as the next generation as well,” Schwarz said.