Google plans $1bn data centre for UK

Google has announced a substantial investment of $1 billion in the establishment of a data centre just outside of London, underscoring its latest commitment to bolstering infrastructure in Britain to meet the escalating demand for internet services within the region.

Situated on a 33-acre (13-hectare) parcel acquired by Google in 2020, the forthcoming data center is slated to be positioned in Waltham Cross, a town approximately 15 miles north of central London, as detailed in an official statement by the Alphabet-owned company.

The British government, actively pushing for increased business investments to support burgeoning infrastructure, especially in pivotal sectors such as technology and artificial intelligence, characterizes Google’s substantial investment as a “significant vote of confidence” in the United Kingdom.

“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,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in the Google statement.

The investment follows Google’s $1 billion purchase of a central London office building in 2022, close to Covent Garden, and another site in nearby King’s Cross, where it is building a new office and where its AI company DeepMind is also based.

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The development follows Microsoft’s recent revelation of a comprehensive investment strategy, earmarking £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) over a three-year period in Britain.

This commitment encompasses the expansion of its data center capabilities, strategically fortifying the foundation for future advancements in artificial intelligence services.

“This new data centre will help meet growing demand for our AI and cloud services and bring crucial compute capacity to businesses across the UK while creating construction and technical jobs,” Alphabet Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat said in the statement.

With a workforce exceeding 7,000 individuals in Britain, Google additionally emphasized its commitment to sustainability by highlighting the potential utilization of waste heat generated from the data centre. This presents an opportunity for energy conservation, contributing positively to the welfare of the local community.