Google sets aside $15bn for AI data centre in India

Google said yesterday it would invest $15 billion over five years to set up an artificial intelligence data centre in India’s southern state of Andhra Pradesh, its biggest ever investment in the world’s most populous nation.

- MUNSIF VENGATTIL

The US tech giant’s plan comes amid a tense diplomatic standoff between New Delhi and Washington over tariffs and a stalled trade deal, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged a boycott of foreign goods.

Indian infotech and finance ministers attended the New Delhi event at which Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said the data centre in Andhra Pradesh would be the company’s “largest AI hub” outside the United States.

“This long-term vision we have is to accelerate India’s own AI mission,” Mr Kurian said.

Google has committed to spending about $85 billion this year to build out data centre capacity as big tech companies invest heavily to build new infrastructure in their competition to meet booming demand for AI services.