Google will invest $140 million to expand the tech giant’s sole data center in Latin America, Reuters reported.
The expansion represents the company’s second stage of growth for the data center in Quilicura, near Santiago, which became operational in 2015.
Google said the new investment will triple the data center’s size to 11.2 hectares (27.7 acres) and create more than 1,000 new jobs in the construction process and 120 new permanent jobs.
Google’s new investment is in addition to the $150 million it spent to build the center. The company first announced data center construction plans Chile in 2012, eight months after it opened offices in the country. Since January of 2017, the data center has operated entirely on solar power from Chile’s Atacama region, Google said.
Edgardo Frias, Google’s general manager in Chile, said the improved infrastructure that came from establishing a data center in Chile helped the company develop its capacity in Artificial Intelligence and machine learning.
“This new stage reinforces the promise Google made to the region to ensure that large and small companies, non-profit organizations, students, educators and all users can access key tools in a reliable and rapid way,” Frias said.
