North Carolina Construction News staff writer
Amazon has announced a $10 billion plan to expand artificial intelligence data center infrastructure in North Carolina.
The expanded AI data centers will be located in Richmond County and support Amazon Web Services, the company’s cloud-computing unit.
The company says AI is driving increased demand for advanced cloud infrastructure and compute power, and our investment will support the future of AI from AWS data centers in the Tar Heel State.
“Amazon’s $10 billion investment in North Carolina underscores our commitment to driving innovation and advancing the future of cloud computing and AI technologies,” said David Zapolsky, Amazon’s chief global affairs and legal officer. “This investment will position North Carolina as a hub for cutting-edge technology, create hundreds of high-skilled jobs, and drive significant economic growth.
“We look forward to partnering with state and local leaders, local suppliers, and educational institutions to nurture the next generation of talent.”
The project is expected to create thousands of local construction jobs and positions in the data center supply chain, as well as other jobs in the local community.
The new data centers will contain computer servers, data storage drives, networking equipment, and other forms of technology infrastructure used to power cloud computing capabilities and generative AI technologies. North Carolina’s business-friendly environment, abundance of infrastructure resources, availability of skilled labor, and growing technology sectors made it a natural hub for building world-class data center infrastructure.
“Artificial intelligence is changing the way we work and innovate, and I am pleased that North Carolina will stay at the forefront of all that’s ahead as we continue to attract top technology companies like Amazon,” said Governor Josh Stein. “Amazon’s investment is among the largest in state history and will bring hundreds of good-paying jobs and an economic boost to Richmond County.”