Key Takeaways Google commits $15 billion to build first AI hub in India over five years, its largest investment in the country. Company announces $9 billion South Carolina investment through 2027 to e...
Google launches major artificial intelligence infrastructure investments totaling approximately $24 billion across the United States and India this week, marking one of the tech giant's most ambitious expansion efforts as demand for AI services continues to surge globally.
On Tuesday, Google announced it will invest approximately $15 billion over the next five years to establish its first AI hub in India, located in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh state.
The investment represents Google's largest commitment to India to date and will create what company executives describe as the largest AI hub outside the United States.
Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, emphasized the significance of the project at a New Delhi event, stating it is the company's largest AI hub investment globally outside of U.S. operations.
The Visakhapatnam facility will feature a purpose-built data center campus with gigawatt-scale computing capacity, developed in partnership with AdaniConneX and Airtel.
The project will also include the construction of a major international subsea gateway with multiple cables landing in Visakhapatnam, along with investments in clean energy generation and transmission infrastructure to power the facility.
Ashwini Vaishnaw, India's Information Technology Minister, welcomed the announcement during the official event.
He stated the digital infrastructure investment would significantly advance India's AI mission goals and expressed appreciation for Google's commitment to workforce development, calling on the industry to help reskill IT professionals as AI services emerge as a new category in the digital economy.
N. Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, described the investment as marking a new chapter in India's digital transformation journey.
According to an analysis commissioned by Google and conducted by Access Partnership, the AI hub is projected to generate at least $15 billion in American GDP over the five-year period through new economic activity from increased cloud and AI adoption.
State officials estimate the project will create approximately 188,000 jobs. Nara Lokesh, Andhra Pradesh's Minister for Human Resources Development and IT, characterized the agreement as the result of a year of intensive negotiations, adding that the deal represents just the beginning of Google's partnership with the state.
One day before the India announcement, Google revealed plans to invest $9 billion in South Carolina through 2027. The funding will expand the company's existing Berkeley County data center campus and support ongoing construction of two new facilities in Dorchester County.
Ruth Porat, President and Chief Investment Officer of Alphabet and Google, announced the South Carolina investment would also fund programs to protect energy affordability and train the local workforce for careers in the state's growing technology and energy sectors.
The company will provide a grant through its philanthropic arm, Google.org, to the Electrical Training Alliance to help prepare more than 160 apprentices for careers in tech and energy industries. Officials said the training initiative could increase the projected pipeline of electricians by nearly 150 percent by 2030.
Google has maintained a presence in South Carolina since building its Berkeley County data center in 2007 and has now invested more than $4.5 billion in the state. The company generated an estimated $6.4 billion of economic activity across South Carolina in 2024, according to company figures.
The investments come as technology companies dramatically scale up infrastructure spending to meet surging demand for artificial intelligence services. Google has committed to spending approximately $85 billion this year on data center capacity expansion globally, up from $75 billion earlier in the year.
The announcements follow other major international investments by Google in recent months, including 5 billion euros for Belgium data center expansion and 5 billion pounds for AI research and data center infrastructure in the United Kingdom.
Competitors Microsoft and Amazon have also poured billions into building data centers in India, where nearly one billion users access the internet, making it a critical growth market for global technology companies. Microsoft announced a $3 billion investment in India's cloud and AI infrastructure in January.
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