BENGALURU: Google has announced an investment of $15 billion over the next five years to set up an artificial intelligence (AI) data centre in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, marking its largest-ever investment in India, a company official said on Tuesday.
The investment is part of Google’s global expansion of AI infrastructure, which includes plans to build AI centres across 12 countries. Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian described the Andhra Pradesh campus as “the largest AI hub that we are investing in anywhere in the world outside the United States.” He added that the data centre will initially have a capacity of 1-gigawatt, with plans to scale it to multiple gigawatts over time.
The centre is expected to create around 188,000 jobs, according to the state government. Earlier estimates had suggested a $10 billion investment for the project, highlighting the scale of Google’s commitment. The move comes as major tech firms, including Microsoft and Amazon, continue to expand their data centre infrastructure in India, catering to the growing demand for AI services and internet-based platforms in a market of nearly one billion users.
AI operations require enormous computing power, driving the need for specialised data centres capable of linking thousands of chips in high-performance clusters. The investment will enhance Google’s ability to serve AI applications globally while strengthening India’s role as a key hub in its AI network.
India is a critical growth market for Google, with YouTube enjoying a large user base and Android dominating the smartphone segment. However, the U.S. tech giant continues to face antitrust scrutiny in the country and is involved in ongoing litigation, including a lawsuit from a Bollywood couple challenging YouTube’s AI policy.
Kurian emphasised that the investment is part of Google’s $85 billion global plan this year to expand data centre capacity, reflecting the intensifying competition among tech giants to meet the rapidly rising demand for AI technologies.
With this move, Google joins other Indian billionaires and technology companies in significantly expanding India’s AI and data centre ecosystem, underlining the country’s strategic importance in the global technology landscape.
