Amazon Web Services (AWS) has revealed a huge $15 billion (2.26 trillion yen) investment that it plans to make in Japan between now and 2027 in a move that will bolster the country’s cloud computing infrastructure, which plays a crucial rollout in the progression of artificial intelligence.
The investment will primarily focus on expanding AWS facilities in Tokyo and Osaka in order to meet growing customer demand in the region.
This is on top of the around $10 billion in today’s currency (1.51 trillion yen) that AWS spent in the country between 2011 and 2022.
AWS invests heavily in Japan
Asahi Group, Marubeni, and Nomura Holdings are some of AWS’s Japanese customers for whom it supplies generative AI services.
However, Amazon isn’t the only tech giant with an interest in the island nation. AI startup OpenAI, which has grown considerably since launching ChatGPT in November 2022, recently held a meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to discuss infrastructure. Kishida also met with Nvidia last year for similar purposes.
The $15 billion investment is so considerable that it exceeds the mammoth $12.7 billion that AWS said it would invest in India between 2023 and 2030, highlighting the significance of Japan in the tech sector.
More broadly, AWS’s expansion continues to go from strength to strength. In December 2023, the company revealed it would invest an estimated $17.9 billion in Canada through 2037, opening a second infrastructure region.
The last few months of 2023 also saw a number of noteworthy companies partner with AWS for cloud services, including Chinese electric car company BYD and hotel giant Accor.
However, the company isn’t unscathed from antitrust regulator attention for its huge market share, which has come under scrutiny in recent months, together with Microsoft’s similar dominance.
Via Reuters
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