Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon's cloud computing arm, said Tuesday it plans to invest “at least” $11 billion in Georgia to expand infrastructure to support various cloud computing and AI technologies. Announced.
AWS estimates its investment will create approximately 550 jobs in the state.
“AWS is proud to expand our operations in Georgia to help advance the next generation of cutting-edge technologies such as AI,” the company said in a press release. “We are grateful to state and local leaders for partnering with us and look forward to continuing to keep Georgia at the cutting edge of the digital age.”
AWS' cash infusion comes about eight months after the company announced it would infuse a similar amount of cash ($11 billion) into data centers in Indiana. AWS promised that the deal would create at least 1,000 jobs.
Georgia is becoming a popular location for data centers. By mid-2024, data center construction in the Atlanta market alone has increased by 76% year over year, according to one report.
The city's cheap electricity, existing fiber optic infrastructure and state tax incentives are attractive to big technology companies. Google, Meta, Elon Musk's X and Microsoft are also major infrastructure spenders in the region. Microsoft purchased hundreds of acres of land in 2023 to build a data center expected to cost about $1.8 billion.
Local residents are not necessarily happy about the development, saying it competes with housing and other more pressing real estate needs. Last September, the Atlanta City Council banned new data centers from opening in areas near transit or the popular BeltLine promenade.
Data centers also tend to have high power requirements. Utility company Georgia Power is relying in part on fossil fuels to generate enough capacity to power current and future data centers, a move that has been criticized by environmentalists. .
By 2028, metro Atlanta's data center inventory could grow to more than 4,000 megawatts of power load, more than 30 times the metro's data center load in 2012, according to real estate data firm Green Street.
The AI boom is driving many, if not most, of today's data center expansion projects. Developing and running AI requires large amounts of computing power. Goldman Sachs estimates that AI will account for approximately 19% of data center power demand by 2028.
AI companies have shown a willingness to spend large sums of money. Microsoft recently announced that it plans to invest $80 billion in AI data centers this year. According to a McKinsey report, capital expenditures for the procurement and installation of data center mechanical and electrical systems could exceed $250 billion over the next five years.