Amazon’s
cloud ambitions are going global.
Amazon
Web Services said Friday it will invest 2.3 trillion yen ($15 billion) in Japan by 2027 to expand its cloud infrastructure in Tokyo and Osaka to meet growing demand.
Japan has lagged behind in its generative artificial intelligence development but the government, and its tech companies, are battling to catch up.
Amazon is happy to help, and in the process expand its global footprint.
In May last year, the tech giant’s cloud unit pledged to invest $12.7 billion in India by 2030, again to meet growing demand for cloud services. That long-term commitment will take AWS’s total investment in India to $16.4 billion after it funded the launch of two data infrastructure regions in Mumbai and Hyderabad between 2016 and 2022.
Its Japanese endeavors have followed a similar blueprint, launching in Tokyo and 2011 and Osaka in 2021 before embarking on a major expansion in the years ahead.
Amazon previously said its 1.51 trillion yen cloud investment in Japan between 2011 and 2022 contributed 1.31 trillion yen in gross domestic product to the Japanese economy.
AWS’ cloud operations are now present in 12 regions in Asia Pacific and China—Hong Kong, Melbourne, Mumbai, Seoul, Sydney, Tokyo, Osaka, Beijing, Ningxia, Jakarta and Hyderabad, according to the company’s website.
Amazon stock pointed 0.6% higher ahead of the open Friday.
Microsoft
shares were 1.1% up and
Alphabet
rose 1%.
Write to Callum Keown at [email protected]
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