Amazon to invest $20B in building AI data centers in Pennsylvania
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The interior of an Amazon data center. Photo: Courtesy of Amazon Web Services
E-commerce giant Amazon will pour $20 billion into Pennsylvania to build a pair of data center complexes, including one outside Philadelphia.
Why it matters: The project, which aims to grow Amazon's artificial intelligence and cloud computing empire, is the largest private investment in Pennsylvania's history.
Driving the news: Amazon executives and Gov. Josh Shapiro unveiled the deal on Monday.
- Amazon's data center campuses are slated for Bucks County's Fairless Hills at the Keystone Trade Center and Salem Township in Luzerne County.
- The company will build the complexes, the first in the state, over the next several years.
Plus: Amazon is considering multiple additional sites in Pennsylvania for more data centers.
- A company spokesperson declined to reveal how many other data centers it's considering and possible locations due to "security reasons."
Zoom in: Amazon plans to build its Salem Township data center beside Talen Energy's Susquehanna nuclear power plant.
- Amazon has tried for more than a year to tap Talen Energy's nuclear power, but federal regulators have rejected the agreement.
By the numbers: The two complexes are expected to create at least 1,250 jobs, including hundreds of construction jobs.
- And once the data centers are operational, they'll require engineers, network specialists, and security experts.
The big picture: Big tech is spending at unprecedented levels on data centers, particularly as companies scramble to scale up AI technology quickly.
- Microsoft struck a deal last year to restart Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear plant to power its data centers.
The other side: Despite the job-creation promises of data centers, there's rising bipartisan opposition to their construction nationwide, Axios' Asher Price and Mimi Montgomery reported last year.
- Some object to their aesthetics and noise, while others complain about their impact on housing costs and national security.
The intrigue: It remains unclear whether Amazon is receiving any state tax breaks for the Pennsylvania projects.
- The state does offer tax refunds to data center owners and operators.
- Manuel Bonder, a Shapiro spokesperson, would only say that the state is committing $10 million as part of the deal to support workforce development efforts at schools, community colleges and union halls to help meet job demands for the data centers. None of that funding goes to Amazon, he added.
The announcement comes after Amazon recently partnered with the University of Pittsburgh to open a cloud innovation center, the first of its kind in the region.
Editor's note: This story was updated with responses from Gov. Josh Shapiro's office and clarifies details about existing tax breaks for data center operators.