Google plans to invest $15 billion over the next five years to collaborate with India’s major telecommunications operator Bharti Airtel to establish an AI hub in India. The hub is located in Vizag, a city in southern Andhra Pradesh, and will be Google’s largest AI hub outside of the United States. It will include a gigawatt level data center operating facility, complemented by an undersea fiber optic cable network to handle AI related workloads. AdaniConnex, a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises, also participated in this project.
Regarding the submarine network, Google and Airtel will build a fiber optic cable landing station in Vizag, which will carry multiple international submarine cables from Google. At present, India’s fiber optic cable landing stations are mainly concentrated in Chennai and Mumbai. But due to the continuous surge in capacity demand, the Indian government has been working hard to promote line diversification. Despite the long coastline of India, achieving this goal is relatively difficult as data centers are mainly concentrated in Mumbai and Delhi. However, it is expected that the AI hub will attract other investors to build data centers in Vizag.
In addition, Airtel will deploy urban and intercity fiber optic networks. The press release states: “This high-capacity, low latency network will bring faster experiences to Google users and customers; Enhance the resilience and capacity of India’s digital backbone network; And promote digital inclusivity and transformation in India, allowing more people and businesses across the country to benefit from AI, “said Gopal Vittal, Managing Director of Airtel.” As Visakhapatnam becomes a new hub on the world AI map, we ensure that India has the opportunity to set the pace for innovation, digital inclusivity, and economic growth, not only for our people, but also for the world. ”
Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said, “Meeting the needs of India’s AI mission requires cutting-edge infrastructure, computing power, and ubiquitous connectivity. In collaboration with Airtel, we will provide next-generation AI services and build the digital backbone network necessary to drive inclusive growth in India. ”According to an analysis commissioned by Google’s Access Partnership, the AI hub is expected to contribute $15 billion to India’s GDP within five years.
This is not the first collaboration between Airtel and Google. Last year, both parties collaborated to provide cloud solutions to Airtel’s enterprise customers. This investment in Vizag is considered to be one of Google’s largest investments in India, which is one of the Internet giant’s largest markets, with millions of YouTube and Android smartphone users.
It is worth noting that the announcement of this $15 billion investment comes at a time when relations between India and the United States are somewhat tense due to delayed tariffs and trade agreements. But the Indian government welcomes this investment. Indian Minister of Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “I would like to thank Google for announcing this $15 billion investment. This digital infrastructure will greatly assist in achieving the goals of our AI mission in India. I would also like to thank the respected Prime Minister for endowing us with this vision, which is to apply technology in all aspects of life. ”
Other American tech giants, such as Amazon and Microsoft, have also been investing in India. For example, earlier this year, Amazon announced an investment of $8.3 billion to develop cloud infrastructure in Maharashtra by 2030.
