Amazon Announces $13 Billion Investment in Australian Data Centers
Amazon has announced plans to invest approximately $13 billion (AU$20 billion) in expanding its data center infrastructure in Australia, marking the largest publicly-disclosed investment from a global technology company in the country to date, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The investment, which will be carried out through 2029, aims to support growing demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing services, the company said on Saturday. The expansion will be driven by Amazon Web Services (AWS), the tech giant’s cloud-computing division.
As part of the initiative, Amazon will also build three new solar farms in Australia to help power its expanded data operations with renewable energy.
“This investment will set us up for the future, boosting our economy and productivity,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on X (formerly Twitter), calling the plan a “huge vote of confidence in the Australian economy.”
The spending underscores Amazon’s broader strategy to scale its AI infrastructure globally. In recent weeks, the company has also committed to major investments in the United States, including $20 billion in Pennsylvania and $10 billion in North Carolina, as well as a $5 billion project to establish a new cloud services region in Taiwan.
Since 2017, AWS has trained more than 400,000 people in Australia in digital skills and plans to continue supporting generative AI programs and workforce development in the country.
Amazon’s expansion aligns with a global trend, as major cloud providers such as Microsoft and Google also ramp up investment in data center infrastructure to meet the surging demand for AI-powered computing. AWS currently has additional infrastructure projects underway in Chile, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia.
