The cloud services division of Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN.O) announced on Friday that it intends to invest an additional $35 billion in expanding data centers in Virginia by 2040.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) claims that the new investment will lead to the creation of 1,000 jobs. According to Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, AWS will set up multiple data center campuses throughout the state.
AWS stated in 2021 that it had 3,500 full-time employees and invested $35 billion in data centers in northern Virginia between 2011 and 2020.
Virginia is developing a new “Mega Data Center Incentive Program,” subject to legislative approval, that would grant the company a 15-year extension of the Data Center Sales and Use Tax Exemption on software and equipment.
Additionally, “for site and infrastructure improvements, workforce development, and other project-related costs,” AWS will be eligible for a state grant of up to $140 million.
On Friday, Amazon’s stock closed up 3.8%.
After a lengthy competition, Amazon announced in 2018 that its second headquarters, known as “HQ2,” would be located in northern Virginia and employ over 25,000 people. According to Amazon, the site had approximately 5,000 employees as of April.
Youngkin has come under fire for pulling out of a competition to get a new battery plant for Ford Motor (F.N) that was supposed to be built with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL) (300750.SZ), the largest battery manufacturer in the world.
Friday, Youngkin gave an explanation for his decision, telling Bloomberg News that he is “forward to bringing a great company there. It won’t be one that uses kind of a Trojan-horse relationship with the Chinese Communist Party in order to gain.”
“While Ford is an iconic American company, it became clear that this proposal would serve as a front for the Chinese Communist party,” a Youngkin spokesperson stated.
Ford didn’t say anything about Youngkin’s decision to pull out.
Ford announced in July that it would begin localizing 40 GWh of battery capacity in North America in 2026. It also said that CATL would start selling battery packs for Mustang Mach-E models in North America in 2023 and would talk about working together to make batteries for Ford cars all over the world.
Ford stated, “Our talks with CATL continue – and we have nothing new to announce on either front.”
According to sources, Michigan is also an option for the Ford battery plant, and a decision could be made in the coming weeks.
