Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing unit of Amazon.com Inc, said that it will invest $15 billion (2.26 trillion yen) in Japan over the five years through 2027.
With this investment, the U.S.-based AWS plans to expand and strengthen its data centers in the country’s two largest urban areas around Tokyo and the western city of Osaka. These centers will help to support the rapidly growing volume of data Amazon’s network is handling amid global race to develop, train, and deploy AI models.
Tadao Nagasaki, head of the Japan unit of AWS, said that AWS considers Japan a “very important country” and was thrilled to contribute to the future of Japan’s digital economy.
“Our investment into cloud infrastructure generates a ripple effect across the Japanese industries including the public and government sector. It will help more Japanese organizations with the ability to access and adopt new, emerging and transformational digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning,” Tadao Nagasaki said.
The latest investment will bring the company’s total investment in cloud infrastructure in Japan to about 3.77 trillion yen. AWS invested a total of 10 billion dollars in the Asian country between 2011 and 2022 to invest in data centers.
AWS, Google and Microsoft presence in Japan
AWS, Microsoft, and Google dominate the global cloud computing market, capturing an impressive two-thirds of the total market share.
Japanese tech companies are still striving to make their mark in Japan’s cloud market as AWS, Google and Microsoft lead the way. Introduced in 2023, Sakura Internet became the first Japanese provider of cloud services.
AWS’s investment plans in Japan comes at a time when rivals Microsoft and Google are rushing to invest in data centers in Japan to meet the rapid increase in demand for cloud computing services due to the popularity and widespread use of generative AI.
Google opened its first Japanese data center in 2023, with the Inzai data center beginning operations in March as part of a $730 million investment in cloud infrastructure.
Microsoft has had the longest cloud infrastructure presence in the Asian country with its first two data centers hosting Windows Azure cloud services going online in February 2014 to support the growing demand for Microsoft’s cloud services. In October 2023, Microsoft signed its first deal with Shizen Energy to provide renewable energy for its data-centers and operations.
