Explore the latest news about Google Plans $1 Billion Investment in UK Data Center.
Google will invest $1 billion to develop a data centre just outside London, the US technology corporation announced on Thursday,
as part of its latest investment in Britain to meet the rising demand for internet services in the region.
The data centre will be built on a 33-acre (13 ha) land purchased by Google in 2020, in the town of
Waltham Cross, roughly 15 miles north of central London, according to an Alphabet announcement.
Google’s investment in the UK was hailed by the British government as a “huge confidence boost” and as a “vote” by businesses,
which are campaigns for investments by firms to help fund new infrastructure, particularly in growing fields like technology and artificial intelligence.
Prime Minister Rishi Singh stated in a Google statement,
“Google’s $1 billion investment is a testament to the fact that the UK is a centre of excellence in the technology sector and has huge growth potential.”
The investment comes after the $1 billion by Google in 2022 of an office block in downtown London, close to Covent Garden, and another site in next to King’s Cross, where it is constructing a new office and establishing its AI enterprise DeepMind.
It also comes just a few weeks after Microsoft announced intentions to invest 2.5 billion pounds ($3.2 billion) in Britain over three years, including raising the capacity of its data centres to enable the promotion of future AI technologies.
According to a statement from Alphabet’s chief financial officer Ruth Porat,
“This new data centre will help us meet growing demand for AI and cloud services and critical computing capacity for businesses across the UK, creating construction and technical jobs.”
Google indicated that the waste heat from the data centre would be a chance for energy saving that may help the neighbourhood.
Google has more than 7,000 employees in the UK.
($1 equals 0.7881 pounds).