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Uzone.id – Over the past few years, tech giants, especially Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, have built data centers and research facilities and collaborated with businesses and governments in the Asian region.
This investment will enable regional organizations and communities to leverage AI-powered technology in professional activities and do simple things at home.
Apple and NVIDIA executives did not hesitate to invest up to billions of dollars in Indonesia and Thailand, which are located in Asia.
With an estimated 65 percent of the region’s population targeted to reach the economic middle class by 2023, the ASEAN market for internet-based services will likely double to US$600 billion, becoming a fresh field for companies to invest in.
In addition, countries in Asia, especially in the Southeast region, have always given a good welcome regarding investment from the West.
A growing and promising start-up ecosystem has also triggered innovation and data-driven businesses, indirectly triggering the data-driven revolution in the Asian region.
The investment value of tech giants in Asia
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In this modern world, data centers are the backbone of the economy, driving the emergence of cloud computing technology. The investment steps taken by these technology companies mark the expansion of Google, Microsoft, and Amazon in the Asian region.
For this reason, it is not surprising that 2024 will be a busy year for Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. First, Microsoft is investing US$1.7 billion over the next four years in Indonesia’s cloud and AI infrastructure.
Then Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced a US$9 billion investment in Singapore to improve their cloud services and infrastructure over the next five years. This investment is part of AWS’s ongoing expansion in Southeast Asia since 2022.
Finally, there is Google, which announced an investment of US$1 billion to construct a new data center and expand cloud infrastructure in Thailand. It is also the first time a Google data center will be built in Thailand.
Energy Source Plans for Future Data Centers
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Google and Microsoft are two ambitious tech giants. Google CEO Sundar Pichai revealed Google’s goal to achieve net zero emissions across their operating systems in 2023.
Currently, Google is looking for an energy source that will meet its high energy needs and help it achieve its goal of reducing emissions.
One of the plans is to use nuclear energy sources to power some of Google’s energy-hungry AI data centers. To make this happen, Google is rumored to partner with Cairo Power to center on deploying small modular reactors (SMRs), compact nuclear reactors designed for flexibility and increased safety.
Google, Amazon, and Microsoft also have similar ambitions. The two have agreed on the value of extraordinary investment in nuclear energy.
Microsoft signed a 20-year deal to purchase energy from Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island nuclear plant, the plant’s owner, Constellation Energy. Although the nuclear power plant was closed due to an accident in 1979, the cooperation between Microsoft and Constellation Energy plans to revive the facility in 2028.
Amazon is rumored to have signed a deal worth $650 million to buy 960 megawatts of electricity that produces 2.5 gigawatts of power from the Susquehanna nuclear power plant. This is Amazon’s effort to achieve its goal of supporting its operations with 100 percent renewable energy by 2025, five years faster than the initial target.
The tech giants are aiming to supply electricity used by the big data centers that power AI. The move will help accelerate new technologies to meet renewable energy needs and is said to create AI’s full potential for everyone.
This is a critical momentum for the technology industry and the energy sector. They secure power for data centers and serve as a broader nuclear energy revival point in global decarbonization efforts.
