Amazon.com Inc. on Wednesday said it intends to spend $10 billion on artificial intelligence (AI) data center expansion in North Carolina, the latest Big Tech player to build out infrastructure amid escalating AI resource requirements.
“Amazon’s $10 billion investment in North Carolina underscores our commitment to driving innovation and advancing the future of cloud computing and AI technologies,” David Zapolsky, Amazon’s chief global affairs and legal officer, said in a statement. “This investment will position North Carolina as a hub for cutting-edge technology, create hundreds of high-skilled jobs, and drive significant economic growth.”
The e-commerce giant has already invested $12 billon in North Carolina, home of the iconic Research Triangle, since 2010 and supports 24,000 full- and part-time jobs.
The project in rural Richmond County, near the South Carolina border, should create at least 500 jobs and support thousands more through construction and data center supply chain providers, according to Gov. Josh Stein’s office, which called the investment one of the largest in state history.
“Artificial intelligence is changing the way we work and innovate, and I am pleased that North Carolina will stay at the forefront of all that’s ahead as we continue to attract top technology companies like Amazon,” Stein said in a statement.
North Carolina officials are calling the project an “innovation campus” where data centers will contain servers, storage drives, networking equipment and other technology.
Under terms of its expansion in North Carolina, Amazon could receive annual cash grants for 20 years equal to portions of the real estate property tax and the property tax for vehicles and equipment at each data center contingent on job creation and monetary investment thresholds, The Richmond Observer reported.
Data centers are already familiar to the Tar Heel state, including those operated by Apple Inc.
Amazon, like Apple and its other Big Tech brethren, is undergoing a massive infrastructure push to accommodate the gluttonous energy and resource requirements necessary to build out AI operations.
