Google will build three new data centers in Texas to prepare for surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI).
Google said on the 14th (local time) that it will invest $40 billion (about 58 trillion won) to build new data centers in Texas by 2027. One data center will be built in Armstrong County on the Panhandle Plains in the far north of the state, and two will be built in Haskell County in West Texas. One of the Haskell County data centers will also include new solar and battery energy storage facilities.
Google also plans to continue investing in its existing Midlothian and Red Oak data centers near Dallas.
On the same day, Google announced that it will create a new "energy impact fund" of more than 6,200 megawatts (MW) by signing power purchase agreements with local energy developers to minimize the impact of data centers on energy demand.
Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said, "This investment will create thousands of jobs and provide training opportunities for college students and apprentice technicians," adding, "It will also accelerate plans to improve energy affordability across Texas."
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said, "With Google investing $40 billion, Texas has become the state in the United States that has received the most investment from Google," adding, "Google is supporting our state's energy efficiency and workforce development."
As U.S. tech giants race to expand data centers in the United States, they are particularly ramping up related investment in Texas.
OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, chose Texas as the first site for the Stargate data center it is pursuing with Oracle and SoftBank. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is building a gigawatt (GW)-scale data center in Texas. Microsoft also signed a contract worth $10 billion to secure computing capacity it will use in Texas over five years.
Anthropic, which operates the AI chatbot "Claude," also recently said it will invest $50 billion in data centers in the United States, including Texas.
Bloomberg said the reason new data center investments are concentrating in Texas is likely "because of abundant land and relatively low energy prices." Data center investments in the United States also appear to be related to the government's manufacturing revival policy and pressure from President Donald Trump, who wants corporations to expand domestic investment.