- Amazon to invest AU$20 billion in Australia between now and 2029
- New data centers in Sydney and Melbourne are part of the plan
- Three new solar farms are also crucial to the investment
Amazon has confirmed plans to invest AU$20 billion into Australia between 2025 and 2029, with expanded data center infrastructure in Sydney and Melbourne accounting for a large part of the upcoming plans.
The company says this multibillion-dollar pledge is Australia’s “largest publicly-announced global technology investment.”
In its announcement, Amazon declared its support for Australia’s “vision to improve productivity and grow the economy through AI innovation.”
Amazon makes “largest” tech investment into Australia
Citing figures from the Australian Government’s Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Amazon noted that AI and automation could contribute up to AU$600 billion annually to Australia’s GDP by 2030.
As part of the cash injection and to support its expanding infrastructure network, Amazon also confirmed it will build three new solar farms in Victoria and Queensland to add more than 170 megawatts of clean energy to the grid. That’s on top of the eight solar and wind projects it already invests in across New South Wales and the two above states.
With all 11 sites in operation, Amazon expects to generate more than 1.4 million megawatt hours of clean energy annually.
“This is the largest investment our country has seen from a global technology provider, and is an exciting opportunity for Australia to build AI capability using secure, resilient infrastructure,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The announcement comes with the usual side dishes – bold claims of widespread upskilling and economic contributions.
Claiming to have trained over 400,000 Australian citizens since 2017, the company pledged to work with educational institutions, industry partners and the government for further training opportunities.
AWS CEO Matt Garman concluded: “AI is a once-in-a-generation transformation, and Amazon is pleased to be empowering all Australians to innovate at scale through this investment.”
The news comes just days after AWS committed $20 billion to expand cloud computing infrastructure in Pennsylvania, and a further $10 billion commitment for North Carolina.
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