Google Earmarks $40B for Texas Digital Development
This investment will help make the Lone Star State an AI powerhouse.
Google intends to invest $40 billion through 2027 in Texas for boosting cloud and AI infrastructure. Plans also call for the development of three new data center projects, one in Armstrong County and two in Haskell County.
The move is part of Google’s Investing in America initiative, aimed at strengthening competitiveness in AI, advancing U.S. innovation and economy through major investments in infrastructure, research, energy capacity and workforce development.
Google’s plans will also include a $30 million Energy Impact Fund, a new energy initiative solution, and more than 6.2 gigawatts of new capacity secured through power purchase agreements.
READ ALSO: Data Center Growth Trends
One of the upcoming Haskell County campuses will rise alongside a new solar and battery storage plant. It would be the first industrial park to be developed under Google’s $20 billion clean energy partnership with Intersect and TPG Rise Climate, according to EnergyCapitalHTX. All three facilities will use air-cooling technology.
A constant presence in Texas for more than 15 years, Google also has data center campuses in Ellis County. The company developed its Midlothian complex in 2019, while two other facilities are in Red Oak—one of them still under construction.
The new $40 billion commitment is Google’s largest investment in any state in the country, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in prepared remarks. The company’s expansion will help the Lone Star State become a major U.S. hub for cloud technology and AI innovation.
Texas attracting data center investors
Data center demand, driven by AI’s rapid growth, will continue to surge but power shortages are limiting the sector’s expansion. However, hyperscalers are expected to surpass $350 billion in capital expenditures this year, according to a recent report by PwC and the Urban Land Institute. Development activity will continue in established markets, as well as in secondary markets, where power is still readily available.
Texas is currently home to some very large data center campuses, some still under construction. One of them is Vantage’s Frontier, a 1.4-gigawatt complex spanning 1,200 acres outside Abilene. The $25 billion project marks the firm’s largest data center investment to date.
Also in Abilene rises the 1.2-gigawatt AI data center development of Blue Owl Capital, Crusoe and Primary Digital Infrastructure. The $15 billion campus will comprise eight buildings when complete.
Earlier this year, Wistron announced plans to build a $761 million, two AI supercomputing plants in North Fort Worth. The Nvidia partner’s upcoming project will rise on two sites within AllianceTexas, a 27,000-acre master-planned, mixed-use development by Hillwood.
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