The facility, which will be set up in the port city of Visakhapatnam, will be part of Google's global network of AI centres spread across 12 countries. "It's the largest AI hub that we are going to be investing in anywhere in the world, outside of the United States," Thomas Kurian, the CEO of Google Cloud, said at an event in the capital Delhi on Tuesday, adding that the investment will be spread over the next five years.

The announcement comes at a time when US President Donald Trump has been asking American companies to prioritise domestic investment. India has emerged as a key destination for AI data centres. The country's low data costs and rapidly growing internet user base have made it a hub for cloud and AI expansion for tech giants. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said the facility "will bring our industry-leading technology to enterprises and users in India, accelerating AI innovation and driving growth across the country".

A formal agreement to finalise the project will be signed on Tuesday, the Andhra Pradesh government said. "It is a massive leap for our state's digital future, innovation, and global standing," said that the state's technology minister Nara Lokesh. The project will combine cloud and AI infrastructure with renewable energy systems and an expanded fibre-optic network. The project is part of the Andhra Pradesh government's plan to develop 6GW of data centre capacity by 2029, according to Bloomberg News. Data centres are physical facilities that house the computing and networking equipment that organisations use to collect, process, store, and distribute data.

They contain servers, storage systems and network equipment like routers and firewalls, along with the necessary power and cooling systems to operate them. In Andhra Pradesh, the government has been offering subsidised land and electricity to attract global investors. India's data centre industry has grown rapidly over the past five years, crossing the 1GW capacity mark in 2024 and nearly tripling its 2019 level, according to global professional service firm JLL's India Data Centre Market Dynamics 2024 report. (BBC)