Google to set up AI hub in Visakhapatnam for $15B
What's the story
Google has announced a massive investment of $15 billion over the next five years to set up an artificial intelligence (AI) hub in Visakhapatnam. The announcement was made by CEO Sundar Pichai during an event in New Delhi today. He said that he discussed the project with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and highlighted how this initiative will boost AI innovation and India's digital economy.
Project details
What will the AI hub do?
Pichai took to X to share the details of the project. He described it as "a landmark development" that will bring Google's industry-leading technology to businesses and consumers in India. The hub shall combine gigawatt-scale compute capacity, a new international subsea gateway, and a large-scale energy infrastructure. It will also offer full-stack solutions with Google's proprietary TPUs (Processing Units) which are twice as power-efficient.
Infrastructure provision
Hub to meet sovereign AI requirements
The Visakhapatnam AI hub will house data locally to meet sovereign AI requirements. Google will run its own models including Gemini, Imagine, and Veo. Thomas Kurian, the CEO of Google Cloud, said that the new center would make Visakhapatnam a global hub for AI innovation. He added that this gigawatt-scale AI hub will help power data locally and enable AI-driven solutions across sectors.
Strategic alignment
Project will help achieve Viksit Bharat by 2047
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that this project is in line with the vision of making India a developed nation by 2047. He emphasized that this collaboration would help achieve the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047 using AI. Union Minister for Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw also stressed on Google's investment playing a key role in India's AI Mission, supporting skill development for IT professionals and boosting the digital economy.
Project anchor
Visakhapatnam will become global AI innovation hub
The agreement between Google and the Andhra Pradesh government is the anchor project for the AI City Vizag initiative. This includes a 1GW hyperscale data center campus. With clean energy integration, innovation ecosystems, and the creation of up to 1.8 lakh jobs, this project positions Visakhapatnam as a cornerstone of India's AI-powered future.