Apple to turn Arizona plant into data center after earlier stumble with glass-making venture

Tech giant Apple says it will invest billions of dollars to open a data center in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa that will be the company's fifth in the U.S. and serve as a control facility for the other four.

The announcement Monday comes four months after an earlier Apple plan for the 1.3 million-square-foot facility it bought in 2013 failed. Apple had a deal with another company to use the plant to make sapphire glass for its products, but the company declared bankruptcy after production issues developed and it had a public falling out with Apple.

A company spokesman says construction on the new data center should start next year. The company expects 150 permanent workers at the site, in addition to construction crews.