Google plans $40 billion Texas data center investment amid AI boom

(Reuters) -Alphabet's Google said on Friday it would invest $40 billion in three new data centers in Texas, as part of its push to expand capacity for artificial intelligence initiatives. The planned investment, which will be made through 2027, underscores the intensifying competition among AI and cloud service providers to build infrastructure capable of supporting advanced AI models. Companies such as OpenAI, Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Amazon are spending billions in new AI-focused data centers. Google said one of the new data centers will be in Armstrong County, in the Texas panhandle, and the other two in Haskell County, a stretch of West Texas near Abilene. "This investment will create thousands of jobs, provide skills training to college students and electrical apprentices, and accelerate energy affordability initiatives throughout Texas," Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in a statement. The company is also continuing to invest in its existing Midlothian campus and Dallas cloud region, part of the company's global network of 42 cloud regions. "Google's $40 billion investment makes Texas Google's largest investment in any state in the country and supports energy efficiency and workforce development in our state," Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in the same statement. Tech companies have announced massive spending plans this year, with many focusing on expanding their U.S. footprint, as President Donald Trump pushes for investments on American soil to maintain the country's edge in the AI sector. Earlier this week, Anthropic said it would invest $50 billion in data centers across the U.S., including New York and Texas. (Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)

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