Google announced a $1 billion investment in Thailand to build a new data center and expand its cloud infrastructure, boosting AI development in the region.
Google is stepping up its expansion strategy in Asia, especially in the field of AI. On September 30, the tech giant announced on its blog in Thailand that it would invest $1 billion in the country to build its first data center and expand its cloud infrastructure.
The data center will be located in Chonburi, an eastern province of Thailand. According to Jackie Wang, head of Google Thailand, this infrastructure will support the growing demand for Google Cloud and innovations in the field of AI, as well as the company's popular services such as Google Search, Google Maps and Google Workspace.
âIn addition to infrastructure development, Googleâs $1 billion investment in Thailand is also aimed at opening up new opportunities for businesses, educators and the entire Thai people,â Wang said in a company blog post.
Jackie Wang, head of department at Google Thailand. Source: X
According to the e-Conomy SEA 2023 report by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company, Thailand's digital economy is the second largest in Southeast Asia and is expected to reach $50 billion by 2025. The tech giant's investment in Thailand reflects the importance of the region in the company's global strategy, especially as AI becomes a key factor in many industries.
The internet giant currently dominates the global search market. The company helped pioneer the research on transformer models, which underpin many of the most popular generative AI models today. However, with the rise of generative AI products from competitors, Google needs to continue to improve and expand its AI services to maintain and strengthen its position in the global market.
Last week, the company filed an antitrust complaint with the European Commission, accusing Microsoft of abusing its dominant position in the cloud industry to undermine competition.
