Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world's largest cloud computing company, announced on Friday (January 19) that it plans to invest 226 trillion yen ($15.24 billion) in Japan over four years until 2027 to expand cloud computing infrastructure as a pillar of artificial intelligence (AI) technology services.
Due to the popularity of generative artificial intelligence, it is expected that data processing capacity will experience explosive growth in the future. AWS stated in a statement that the company is investing in expanding its facilities in Tokyo and Osaka to meet the growing customer demand.
Currently, Amazon is providing generative artificial intelligence services to corporate customers in Japan, including Asahi Group, Marubeni, and Nomura Holdings.
Prior to this, AWS had spent 151 trillion yen ($10.15 billion) on large-scale cloud computing capacity construction between 2011 and 2022 for processing and storing customer data. AWS stated that this investment will be based on the previous foundation.
This investment comes at a time when the Japanese government and companies are vigorously developing the field of artificial intelligence, and the country is trying to catch up with the leaders in this field.
Last year, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with the heads of ChatGPT manufacturer OpenAI and advanced chip manufacturer Nvidia to discuss artificial intelligence regulation and infrastructure.
It is worth mentioning that this huge investment will exceed AWS's planned investment of 1.056 trillion rupees (12.7 billion US dollars) in India. India is widely regarded as a market with great growth potential, but AWS seems to be more optimistic about its Japanese market.