An illuminated Google emblem is seen in an workplace constructing in Zurich, Switzerland.
Arnd Wiegmann | Reuters
Googling introduced Monday that it’s investing THB 36 billion, or $1 billion, in Thailand to determine a brand new knowledge heart and develop the nation’s cloud infrastructure.
The transfer marks an acceleration of Google’s enlargement in Asia, placing synthetic intelligence on the coronary heart of its worldwide enterprise, at a time when Google faces stiff competitors from firms like Microsoft and Open AI.
The funding would enable the corporate to create its first knowledge heart in Thailand, Google stated in a publish on its Thailand weblog on Monday.
Knowledge facilities are the spine of right this moment’s fashionable digital economic system, fueling the rise of cloud computing expertise that permits entry to storage, compute and analytics providers over the Web.
Google stated its debut Thai knowledge heart might be positioned in Chonburi, an jap province of Thailand.
The ability will “assist assist the rising demand for Google Cloud and AI improvements, in addition to standard Google providers comparable to Google Search, Google Maps and Google Workspace” in Thailand, Jackie Wang, Google nation chief in Thailand, stated within the weblog publish: in line with an English translation through Google Translate.
Along with creating infrastructure, Google’s $1 billion funding in Thailand can also be about unlocking new alternatives for companies, educators and all Thais, Wang stated within the weblog publish.
“As AI transforms industries, it’s extra necessary than ever to coach and upskill Thais in utilizing this expertise,” she added.
Thailand’s digital economic system is the second largest in Southeast Asia and is anticipated to achieve $50 billion by 2025, Google, Temasek and Bain & Firm stated in a 2023 report by e-Conomy SEA.
Google is investing within the area with a concentrate on AI because it faces strain from its rival tech giants relating to each AI and cloud computing.
The web large presently dominates worldwide relating to its search engine expertise. However the firm is more and more threatened by the rise of generative AI instruments comparable to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
It is a expertise that Google helped pioneer by way of its early analysis into so-called transformer fashions, which kind the idea of lots of the hottest generative AI fashions.
Right this moment, nevertheless, Google is threatened by its use of generative AI merchandise, comparable to ChatGPT and Perplexity, an AI-powered search engine, to seek out details about issues.
Final week, Google filed an antitrust lawsuit with the European Fee, accusing Microsoft of abusing its dominant place within the cloud trade to undermine competitors.
