An employee stands near the Amazon Inc. logo above the reception counter at the company’s campus in Hyderabad, India, on Friday, September 6, 2019.
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Amazon on Wednesday pledged to invest more than $35 billion in India’s cloud and artificial intelligence space by 2030 as hyperscalers race to gain a foothold in the market.
The commitment revealed in Amazon The Smbhav summit to be held in New Delhi will build on the approximately $40 billion already invested in the country.
Amazon said in a press release that the new fund will target AI-driven digitization, export expansion, and job creation, in line with India’s national priorities of building a local AI environment.
Amazon says the plan will create an additional 1 million direct, indirect, induced and seasonal jobs in India by 2030, quadruple exports to $80 billion, and bring the benefits of AI to 15 million small and medium-sized businesses.
Deepika Giri, head of regional research for big data and AI at IDC, told CNBC that India is one of the fastest growing regions in the Asia-Pacific region for AI spending.
“The lack of adequate computing infrastructure to run AI models is a major gap, and therefore a significant opportunity,” Giri said.
He added that infrastructure is a central pillar of the strategy as Asian countries accelerate efforts to build sovereign AI capabilities as trade tensions and tariffs drive regionalization of technology.
The investment highlights Amazon’s bet on India’s burgeoning digital economy, building out fulfillment centres, data centers and payments infrastructure.
That’s coming soon too microsoft Big Tech companies have announced plans to invest $17.5 billion in India’s AI infrastructure as they accelerate their expansion into the market.
“We are honored to be a part of India’s digital transformation journey over the past 15 years,” said Amit Agarwal, Amazon’s senior vice president of emerging markets.
“Looking to the future, we are excited to continue to be a catalyst for India’s growth by democratizing access to AI for millions of Indians.”
