Google has announced a $1 billion investment in building a data centre just outside of London to address the growing demand for internet services in the region.
The data centre will be situated on a 33-acre site in Waltham Cross, approximately 15 miles north of central London, which Google acquired in 2020. The investment is seen as a strategic move by the US technology giant to bolster its presence in the UK.
The British government views Google’s investment as a “huge vote of confidence” in the country. The investment aligns with the government’s efforts to attract business investments, especially in technology and artificial intelligence, to support new infrastructure development.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stated in Google’s announcement, “Google’s $1 billion investment is testament to the fact that the UK is a centre of excellence in technology and has huge potential for growth.”
This investment follows Google’s $1 billion acquisition of a central London office building in 2022, near Covent Garden, and another site in King’s Cross, where the company is constructing a new office. Google’s AI subsidiary, DeepMind, is based at the same location.
The move also comes in the wake of Microsoft’s recent announcement of a £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) investment in Britain over three years, including an expansion of its data centre capacity to support future AI services.
Google’s new data centre is expected to address the increasing demand for its AI and cloud services in the UK while creating job opportunities in construction and technology. Additionally, the company has said that the waste heat generated by the data centre would be explored as an energy conservation opportunity that could benefit the local community.
