Rapid expansion at a former GM site reflects SLB’s growing role in global data center infrastructure

For decades, workers at a sprawling factory in Shreveport, Louisiana, built vehicles for General Motors. After sitting idle for several years, the site has rapidly filled with new activity and is now helping build the physical infrastructure needed to support the rapid growth of AI and cloud computing.

Since 2023, SLB has expanded its operations there to fill 3.1 million square feet and grown its workforce to almost 1,800 employees. The former automotive plant has become a major manufacturing center for prefabricated data center infrastructure as customers look for faster, more efficient ways to add computing capacity.

The Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce recently recognized that growth with its J. Pat Beaird Industry of the Year Award, which honors business expansion, job creation, innovation and community impact.

Building more of the data center offsite

As data center projects get larger and timelines get tighter, more of the work that once happened at the construction site is moving into factories. In Shreveport, critical data center systems can be engineered and manufactured in a controlled environment before being delivered and installed at the customer site.

That allows manufacturing and site preparation to move forward at the same time, rather than waiting for one phase to finish before the next one begins. It can also provide greater control over quality, consistency and project schedules as customers add new capacity.

The model draws on capabilities SLB has developed through decades of engineering, manufacturing, supply chain management and execution for complex energy projects. The market is different, but the challenge is familiar: how to build complex systems repeatedly, at scale and with fewer variables at the final site.

From Shreveport to a broader business

Shreveport is now one part of a global data center infrastructure business that is expanding in both scale and scope. SLB began manufacturing data center infrastructure there in 2024 and has since expanded operations internationally.

Since April 2024, the company has shipped more than 1.3 gigawatts of prefabricated modular infrastructure and expects cumulative deliveries to exceed 2 gigawatts globally by the end of 2026. SLB’s role is also expanding beyond manufacturing. In 2026, NVIDIA selected SLB as the modular design partner for NVIDIA DSX AI factories, extending the company’s role into modular design for large-scale AI infrastructure.

SLB has also been selected by Meta to support a major data center development in Canada. Together, these developments point to a business expanding across modular design, manufacturing and data center infrastructure delivery.