Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing department of the Internet giant Amazon, said on September 11 (Wednesday) that it planned to invest 8 billion pounds (US $10.45 billion) in the UK to build, operate and maintain data centers in the next five years.
AWS expects that by the end of 2028, this investment project will contribute £ 14 billion to the UK's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and create over 14000 jobs for UK businesses.
This project represents Amazon's accelerated investment pace in the UK. Since 2022, AWS has invested £ 3 billion in facilities in London and Manchester.
AWS Managing Director Tanuja Randery said, "Our team building data centers globally considers multiple factors before deciding where to place them, from electricity to water resources to local environments." She pointed out that the use of artificial intelligence is one of the factors driving demand for cloud services.
AWS has been making significant investments across Europe, announcing earlier this year an investment of 15.7 billion euros in Spain and 7.8 billion euros in Germany.
Analysts and executives say that many large enterprise clients have started investing in cloud computing again after suspending it last year, as interest in artificial intelligence has driven a rebound in the $270 billion cloud infrastructure market growth.
British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves welcomed this investment and has been actively seeking foreign investors in preparation for the investment summit on October 14th.
The UK government has stated that data centers will be located in London and the West to meet demand, but for security reasons, Amazon will not disclose specific locations.
The UK Treasury Department stated, "The government is also actively negotiating with the company regarding investments in other regions of the UK
