$15 billion in AI. Google is betting on India and the data center

Google said on Tuesday that it will invest $15 billion over the next five years to create an artificial intelligence data center in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. This will be one of the largest investments in the country's history, Reuters reported.

– This is the largest artificial intelligence center in which we intend to invest (…) outside the United States – said Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud.

The 1-gigawatt data center will be located in the port city of Visakhapatnam on the Bay of Bengal.

Google's announcement came at a time of intensifying competition between tech giants investing heavily in new data center infrastructure to meet growing demand for AI services. In the case of Google, expenditure on the expansion of data centers will amount to approximately USD 85 billion this year.

Artificial intelligence requires enormous computing power. This is driving demand for specialized data centers that allow tech companies to combine thousands of chips into clusters.

Microsoft and Amazon have also already invested billions in the construction of data centers in India, considered crucial for global technology giants.

Reuters first reported on Google's plans in July. The center, which will be the company's largest investment in Asia in both value and data capacity, is part of a multi-billion dollar expansion of its data center network in the region, in countries including Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

– At a time when data is the new oil, such initiatives will be a strategic advantage – said state IT minister Nara Lokesh. (PAP)

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