Google plans to invest USD 2 billion to build data centre in northeast Indiana, officials say

Google plans to invest USD 2 billion to build a data centre in northeastern Indiana that will help power its artificial intelligence technology and cloud business, company and state officials said. The data centre planned for Fort Wayne was announced in January. But Google disclosed the project's cost on Friday and said it is expected to create up to new 200 jobs, including data centre technicians and support services, The Journal Gazette reported.

The data centre in the city about 120 miles (190 kilometers) northeast of Indianapolis will help power Google's “AI innovations and growing Google Cloud business for customers across the world,” Gov. Eric Holcomb's office said in a news release.

Google said the new data centre will join a network of Google-owned-and-operated data centres across the globe that “keep the internet humming" and power digital services such as Google Cloud, Gmail, Search and Maps.

“Together, Fort Wayne and Google will help power the digital future, including AI innovation across our enterprise and consumer services,” said Joe Kava, Google's vice president of data centres.

Friday's announcement came one day after Amazon's cloud computing unit Amazon Web Services said it plans to invest USD 11 billion to build a data centre in northern Indiana near the town of New Carlisle, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) west of South Bend.