Meta is testing robots from vendors like Kinova and ABB to handle repetitive data center tasks such as swapping cables and power cycling servers, according to current and former workers, as the industry faces skilled labor shortages and escalating compute demands.
Tech giants are quietly rethinking how data centers operate under the pressure of infrastructure expansion. Meta has begun testing autonomous hardware inside its facilities to plug in cables, restart servers, and handle maintenance routines according to workers familiar with the projects. While the company declined to comment on the experiments, the push points toward an automated future designed to keep labor costs in check as artificial intelligence spending surges.
Inside Meta’s Automated Server Rooms and Robot Trials
The experiments rely on hardware from multiple robotics vendors. In one setup, engineers are evaluating a Kinova Gen3 robotic arm to cut off electricity or power-cycle servers. Other trials involve specialized devices designed to swap networking cables or simple mechanical fingers built to push power buttons on Mac Minis and other gear during remote reboots. One data center worker estimated that a successful rollout could replace up to 80 percent of certain staff workloads.
“We thought those of us performing the physical tasks were safe for a while, but not anymore. It’s coming for us all, unfortunately.”
Photo: townhall.com
Unnamed Meta data center worker, via Wired
Industry proponents argue that introducing machines can free technicians from dangerous or repetitive duties. Longer term, proponents suggest automation could make it feasible to operate facilities in extreme environments such as underwater or in space. Yet executives also point to workforce pressures. Francis Brennan, a company spokesperson, emphasized that Meta continues to invest in human talent. America is in the middle of its biggest infrastructure boom since World War II, and there’s a major shortage of skilled workers to fill the roles; we need more workers, not fewer, Brennan said in a statement provided to media.
The automation drive arrives as the broader industry faces a talent crunch.
This deficit leaves critical infrastructure vulnerable.
That shortage has forced firms to push back retirement timelines for veteran experts while scrambling to build internal training academies that will take years to mature.
Geopolitical Headwinds and Local Resistance Campaigns
As builders race to meet surging computational demands, the physical expansion has triggered widespread public pushback. Recent polling indicates roughly three-quarters of Americans oppose the construction of new artificial intelligence data facilities over concerns regarding water consumption, electrical grid strain, and noise according to published findings.
Photo: forbes.com
A research report published by Sam Lyman at the Bitcoin Policy Institute alleges that some domestic activist campaigns have received coordination from groups tied to the Chinese Communist Party. The report links these coordinated efforts to 10 data center moratoria, one permanent ban, and multiple blocked investments totaling $23.6 billion in delayed projects. Critics of the buildout have also found legislative traction through measures like the proposed Sanders-Ocasio-Cortez Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act, which seeks federal halts on new construction until strict environmental and consumer-cost standards are enacted.
Proponents of digital infrastructure argue that local opposition overlooks the massive economic contributions these campuses deliver.
Meta is putting robots to work in its AI data centers
Nationwide, the sector directly employed more than a million workers and supported 5.5 million jobs in 2024. Keeping pace with international demand will require an estimated $6.7 trillion in infrastructure investment by 2030. Whether domestic policy and local communities can reconcile these immense capital and power requirements with mounting environmental and labor hurdles remains the central unresolved question for the next phase of American industrialization.
