Google has officially declared a huge investment of $15 billion within five years to set up a big Artificial Intelligence (AI) data centre hub in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Thomas Kurian, the CEO of Google Cloud, announced it on Tuesday during an event in New Delhi. It is an enormous project in which the firm is investing anywhere in the world except the US, indicating its enormous magnitude and strategic value. The facility will be designed as a 1-gigawatt data centre campus, a high-capacity facility which will become the largest in capacity and investment size in Asia. 

Vision and strategic location

Visakhapatnam, a port city, has been identified as the site of this flagship hub, and the facility is expected to make it an important component of the worldwide web of Google AI hubs, already located in 12 countries. The investment is not aimed at serving India alone but also building Visakhapatnam to be a global AI innovation hub capable of serving other regions in Asia and the rest of the world.

The project also involves the most important aspect of digital infrastructure, with a new subsea cable and network connectivity hub. Google intends to place its underwater cable infrastructure at Visakhapatnam and connect the city to its global network to make it a significant connectivity hub.

The multi-billion-dollar investment is also in line with the larger vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 of the Indian Government that focuses on increasing the pace of AI-based services and ensuring inclusive growth. Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian highlighted that fulfilling the requirements of the AI Mission in India will require state-of-the-art infrastructure and computational capabilities, which the new hub will offer. The initiative will bring its entire AI-stack and consumer services nearer to Indian businesses, and as a result, expect to drive AI-based solutions in vital industries, healthcare, education, agriculture, and industry. 

Collaboration with leading partners

The gigantic data centre campus will be established in partnership with industry partners, AdaniConneX and Airtel, and will be built on the same state-of-the-art infrastructure that underpins a core Google offering, such as Search, Workspace, and YouTube. The Government of Andhra Pradesh signed this historic project with Google in New Delhi, and some of the most important government leaders were present, including Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, and state IT Minister Nara Lokesh.

The project will be the hub of the high-profile AI City Vizag program that is set to generate up to 1.8 lakh new jobs and breed global AI expertise in India. Clean energy integration is also being funded by the state government, with Google planning to collaborate with local partners to install new transmission lines, clean energy generation, and energy storage systems in Andhra Pradesh.

Conclusion

Google plans to invest $15 billion to construct an AI-based data centre hub in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, which is an indication of its most serious interest in the Indian digital economy yet. The construction of the port city as a global centre of AI and cloud computing will make the company the largest investment in AI hubs outside the US, making it a major connection point by integrating its undersea cable network. The massive investment in next-generation AI infrastructure at scale will be critical to helping the Indian government realize its digital and AI missions, drive innovation, and create meaningful economic opportunities within the country.