Amazon has unveiled a A$20bn ($13.02bn) investment plan for 2025 to 2029, aimed at expanding its data centre infrastructure in Australia.

This initiative is intended to meet the rising demand for cloud computing and AI in the country.

The investment will enhance AI capabilities and drive the modernisation of Australian organisations, aligning with the government’s goal of boosting productivity and economic growth through AI innovation.

It will benefit several Amazon Web Services (AWS) customers and partners by providing advanced cloud and AI tools while ensuring compliance with local data residency and regulatory requirements.

The Australian Government’s Department of Industry, Science and Resources projects that AI and automation could add up to A$600bn to Australia’s GDP annually by 2030.

Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “I am pleased to join Matt Garman to announce AWS’s investment of A$20bn over five years to further develop and expand its data centers in Sydney and Melbourne.”

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The investment coincides with the launch of AWS AI Spring Australia, a series of programmes aimed at accelerating AI adoption nationwide.

Key initiatives include the AWS Generative AI Accelerator for early-stage startups and the AWS AI Launchpad to support enterprises in adopting AI technologies.

In 2023, AWS expanded its footprint by opening the AWS Asia Pacific (Melbourne) Region and introducing Australia’s first AWS Local Zones in Perth.

The launch of Amazon Bedrock, a fully managed generative AI service, in April 2024, and a partnership with the Australian Government to develop a “Top Secret” AWS Cloud for national security in July 2024.

AWS has been present in Australia since 2012, starting with the launch of the AWS Asia Pacific (Sydney) Region.

AWS CEO Matt Garman said: “This planned investment deepens our long-term commitment to supporting the growth and development of Australian organisations of all sizes and helping them harness the enormous opportunity that generative AI offers.”

To support its expanded infrastructure, Amazon is investing in three new solar farms in Victoria and Queensland, operated by European Energy, purchasing over 170MW of capacity.

This complements its existing support for eight solar and wind projects across New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria, which power its data and fulfilment centres.

Recently, Amazon announced an investment of $10bn in North Carolina to expand its data centre infrastructure, supporting AI and cloud computing advancements.