Google to invest $40B in 3 new AI data centers, infrastructure across Texas

Google is making a Texas-sized investment in artificial intelligence, with plans to invest $40 billion in data centers and other infrastructure across Texas through 2027.

The funds will be allocated for cloud and AI infrastructure, with the development of three new data centers in Armstrong and Haskell counties, the tech giant announced Friday.

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The historic investment makes Texas Google’s largest investment in any state in the country.

“We must ensure that America remains at the forefront of the AI revolution, and Texas is the place where that can happen,” Governor Greg Abbott said.

Google is continuing to invest in its existing Midlothian campus and Dallas cloud region, which make up a portion of the company’s global network of 42 cloud regions.

These specific areas deliver services for businesses and organizations to build and scale their own AI-powered solutions.

According to the CEO of Google, this investment will create much more than infrastructure.

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“They say that everything is bigger in Texas – and that certainly applies to the golden opportunity with AI,” CEO of Google and Alphabet, Sundar Pichai, said. “This investment will create thousands of jobs, provide skills training to college students and electrical apprentices, and accelerate energy affordability initiatives throughout Texas.”

The funding plan will also ensure that the U.S. stays ahead in the AI race, according to Deputy Secretary of Energy James Danly and Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

Here are some other points of the investment plan, according to the release from Google:

1. Increasing energy abundance and reliability
   • “Google is committed to responsibly growing its infrastructure by bringing new energy resources onto the grid, paying for costs associated with its operations, and supporting community energy efficiency initiatives,” Google said in the release. “Operating some of the industry’s most energy-efficient data centers, Google ensures that as it grows, it increases the local energy supply and long-term capacity to meet demand.”
   • One of the new Haskell data centers will be co-located with a new solar and battery energy storage plant, easing demands on the Texas grid.
   • The company announced a $30 million Energy Impact Fund to scale and accelerate energy initiatives throughout Texas over the next three years, starting in 2026.
2. Advancing water security
   • Google’s three new facilities in Armstrong and Haskell Counties will use advanced air-cooling technology, limiting water use to site operations.
   • They’ll also provide over $2 million to support agriculture in Texas, including a regenerative agriculture program with Indigo Ag in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and an irrigation efficiency project with N-Drip in the Texas High Plains.
3. Developing Texas’ workforce
   • New energy and data center investments create significant demand for electrical jobs. Google’s initiative will train existing electrical workers and more than 1,700 apprentices in the state by 2030. This will strengthen Texas’ workforce, economy, and technological infrastructure and increase the projected pipeline of new electricians in the Lone Star State by nearly 110%.
4. Empowering Texans with AI
   • Google is working with key sectors of Texas to enable the responsible use and adoption of AI and supporting leading nonprofits, academics, and foundations to ensure local workers and students are prepared for jobs.
   • Google is committing $7 million in grants to support AI-related initiatives in healthcare, energy, and education across the state. This funding is in addition to Google’s ongoing work with leading institutions in the state.
   • The University of Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas State University systems, along with Dallas College and South Texas College, are among the universities and colleges in the country that are part of the first cohort of the Google AI for Education Accelerator, giving students, faculty, and staff no-cost access to Google Career Certificates and AI training courses.