Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing arm of the US retail giant unveiled plans on Wednesday to invest £8 billion ($10.45 billion) over the next five years in the United Kingdom.
The investment aims to develop and operate new data centers across the country, marking a significant expansion of AWS's cloud computing capabilities in the region.
Announced early Wednesday London time, the investment underscores the growing focus on cloud computing and the integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
Tanuja Randery, AWS's managing director for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, highlighted the surge in cloud and AI adoption among British businesses and the UK's ambitious digital goals, noting in an interview with CNBC that generative AI is "probably the most transformative technology we have seen, possibly since the cloud and the internet”.
AWS's investment is intended to bolster the infrastructure necessary for these technologies, aiming to support revenue growth, enhance employee productivity, and boost global competitiveness for businesses.
Like many major tech companies, AWS has been ramping up its infrastructure investments, including in data centers and Nvidia chips, to support AI model training and deployment.
This move continues AWS’s expansion strategy in Europe, following a similar commitment of 8.8 billion euros in cloud infrastructure in Germany.
However, this expansion coincides with heightened regulatory scrutiny in the UK, where the Competition and Markets Authority is investigating the cloud market, focusing on AWS and Microsoft. Randery assured that AWS is collaborating constructively with the CMA and advocates for regulation that fosters innovation.