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Amazon to invest $21b more in Spain for data centers, AI
Amazon said on March 2 it would invest an additional €18 billion (US$21 billion) in Spain to expand data centres and boost AI, bringing its total national investment to €33.7 billion (US$39.3 billion).
The announcement followed a meeting at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona between Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and David Zapolsky, Amazon’s chief global affairs and legal officer.
Zapolsky said the investment would support up to 30,000 jobs until 2035 and make Spain the AI epicentre of Amazon’s European operations.
Last year, Amazon’s cloud unit, AWS, announced plans to invest €15.7 billion (US$18.3 billion) in data centers in Spain’s northeastern Aragon region, estimating it would support an average of 17,500 jobs per year through 2033.
🔗 Source: Reuters
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
Amazon’s Spanish bet grew thirteen-fold in just three years
- The spending ramped up fast over a short period.
- In 2021, Amazon’s initial plan was a €2.5 billion investment in Spain over ten years 1.
- That commitment rose six-fold last year to €15.7 billion. The focus was expanding Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon’s cloud computing unit, in Aragón 2.
- The latest announcement adds another €18 billion and lifts Amazon’s total planned investment in Spain to €33.7 billion. Rising demand for AI is pushing Amazon to scale European infrastructure to keep pace 3.
The investment and layoffs match a wider tech industry pattern
- Amazon is pouring money into infrastructure while cutting corporate jobs. The moves align with a shift in spending priorities.
- The €33.7 billion largely goes toward long-term capital expenditure on physical assets, such as data centers needed for AI computing 4.
- Across the sector, companies are cutting day-to-day expenses, including corporate headcount, to pay for the infrastructure that supports AI.
- Amazon has separately said it plans to cut its global corporate workforce by as many as 14,000 roles, even as it expands data center capacity in Spain.
