Amazon is making a landmark $10 billion investment in rural North Carolina to expand its artificial intelligence infrastructure, marking one of the largest capital commitments in the state's history.
The tech giant announced on Wednesday that it will build multiple data centers at the Energy Way Industrial Park in Richmond County, about 100 miles southwest of Raleigh. The facilities will house computer servers, data storage drives, networking equipment, and other technology infrastructure used to power Amazon Web Services' cloud computing capabilities and generative AI technologies.
The investment is expected to create at least 500 new high-skilled jobs, including positions for data center engineers, network specialists, engineering operations managers, and security specialists. Beyond direct employment, the project will support thousands of additional jobs in construction and throughout Amazon's data center supply chain.
"Generative AI is driving increased demand for advanced cloud infrastructure and compute power, and our investment will support the future of AI from AWS data centers in the Tar Heel State," said David Zapolsky, Amazon's Chief Global Affairs and Legal Officer. The company has earmarked up to $100 billion in capital expenditures this year, with the majority allocated to AI-related projects.
This expansion comes as Amazon races to build out capacity for AI workloads to compete with rivals including Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has repeatedly emphasized the strategic importance of AI, calling it a "once-in-a-lifetime type of business opportunity" that will "reinvent virtually every customer experience we know."
The project could transform Richmond County, which has a population of about 42,000 and has experienced economic challenges since textile and apparel jobs disappeared a generation ago. As part of its commitment to the region, Amazon is launching a $150,000 community fund for local projects and will bring training programs to community colleges, including data center technician programs and STEM education initiatives for K-12 schools.
North Carolina Governor Josh Stein welcomed the investment, noting that it positions the state "at the forefront of AI innovation" while bringing "hundreds of good-paying jobs and an economic boost to Richmond County."