Google to spend $1.3 billion in Thailand in Asia AI push
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Tech giants like Google are spending billions of dollars to ramp up AI data centres in South-east Asia, including Singapore.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BENGALURU - Alphabet’s Google plans to invest US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion) to build data centres in Thailand, joining global tech companies in adding cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in South-east Asia.
The company will add facilities in Bangkok and Chonburi, a province south-east of the capital. The outlay could help add US$4 billion to Thailand’s economy by 2029 and support 14,000 jobs annually over the next five years, Google said on Sept 30, citing a Deloitte study.
The investment was unveiled by Google and Thailand’s recently appointed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, underscoring the push by South-east Asia’s governments to attract foreign tech firms.
Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia and Amazon.com are spending billions of dollars to ramp up AI data centres from Thailand and Malaysia to Singapore and Indonesia.
Google has already announced billions of dollars in investment in Malaysia and Singapore in 2024.
On Oct 1, Google said its investments in Malaysia would create 26,500 jobs and contribute more than US$3 billion to the country’s economy by 2030, as it announced its new US$2 billion data centre there had broken ground.
“Our investments are designed to provide high performing and reliability, meeting demand for cloud and AI services across the country,” Google president and chief investment officer Ruth Porat told an event in Malaysia.
Amazon unveiled a US$9 billion outlay in Singapore in May, and Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella swung through the region, unveiling a road map involving expenditures of about US$4 billion to build data centres and other infrastructure.
Governments around the world on their part are trying to strike a balance between ensuring digital sovereignty and luring foreign investment. They are seeking to keep control of their citizens’ data and develop local tech firms while leveraging global companies’ investment power and expertise to build AI and cloud infrastructure.
The new Thailand data centre capacity will help support Google’s AI-driven services such as search, maps and workspace. The company, set up in Thailand 13 years ago, says it has trained more than 3.6 million students, educators, developers and small and medium businesses in digital skills in the past five years.
Google’s investment is aligned with the country’s cloud policies, Ms Paetongtarn said in a statement.
It will “accelerate the development of innovative digital services and in turn unlock economic opportunities”, she said.
BLOOMBERG, REUTERS
