Amazon announces plans to invest $10 billion in UK data centers

The project is expected to contribute around £14 billion to the UK's gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of 2028, while creating more than 14,000 jobs for British businesses.

This is a major step in Amazon's expansion strategy in this market. From 2022, AWS has invested £3 billion in infrastructure in London and Manchester.

Tanuja Randery, an executive at AWS, told Reuters that the company's data center development team carefully considered many factors before deciding on a data center location, including energy sources, water and local environmental conditions.

Ms. Randery also emphasized that artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the important factors driving demand for AWS cloud computing services.

Amazon is not only investing heavily in the UK, but is also expanding across Europe. Earlier this year, AWS announced a €15.7 billion investment in Spain and a €7.8 billion investment in Germany.

After a period of stagnation, many large enterprises have begun to increase spending on cloud computing again, especially as artificial intelligence becomes a major growth driver in the $270 billion cloud infrastructure market, according to analysts.

AWS's new investment has been welcomed by UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, who is trying to court foreign investors ahead of an investment summit on October 14.

The UK government said the data centres would be built in areas to serve demand in London and the west. However, for security reasons, Amazon did not disclose the specific locations of these centres.

The UK Treasury also revealed that the government is actively discussing with Amazon about the possibility of expanding investment to other areas across the country, in order to create more jobs and promote economic growth.