AI infrastructure continues to mount as Amazon announces $10B data center project

The build out of artificial intelligence infrastructure continues, as Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced today it is investing $10B to expand its data center footprint in North Carolina.

“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.”

The sizable investment is expected to create 500 high-skilled jobs in the Amazon Web Services data center supply chain.

“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,” said N.C. Gov. Josh Stein.

Richmond County is located between Charlotte and Fayetteville.

As part of the investment, Amazon also vowed to work with North Carolina educational institutions to increase training programs and work-based learning opportunities in the data center industry.

The number of large data centers operated by hyperscale providers increased to 1,136 by the end of 2024, as the total has more than doubled since 2019, according to Synergy Research Group. The research firm expects the number to keep growing by 130 to 140 each year for the foreseeable future.

Amazon, Microsoft (MSFT) and Google (GOOG)(GOOGL) are the leading cloud providers. The U.S. currently contains 54% of global data center capacity, according to Synergy data. China ranks second with 16%. Europe houses 15%.

“Historically, the average size of new data centers was increasing gradually, but this trend has become supercharged in the last few quarters as companies build out AI-oriented infrastructure,” said John Dinsdale, a chief analyst at Synergy Research Group.