Google will invest an additional $9 billion over the next year in Virginia’s cloud and AI infrastructure as part of a move to accelerate innovation in the US.

The tech giant said that the investment would help to expand its local presence with new infrastructure developments, including the construction of a new data centre in Chesterfield County.

It added that it is working with local partners to find ways to meet growing energy demand, including efficiency programmes and innovative technologies.

Beyond infrastructure, the cloud specialist added that it is also providing AI skills to citizens in the state as part of a broader £1 billion commitment that will see it provide university students with access to the Google AI Pro plan and AI training for one year.

Earlier this month, Google said that the investment would include AI literacy programmes, research funding, and cloud computing resources at US universities.

University of Virginia, Brightpoint Community College and Northern Virginia Community College are part of the first cohort of the Google AI for Education Accelerator, an initiative to offer free AI training and Google Career Certificates to every college student in America.

Google also recently announced a similar move in Oklahoma, where it is spending $9 billion over the next two years with a focus on cloud and AI infrastructure.

The funding will support the development of a new data centre campus in Stillwater and the expansion of Google’s existing facility in Pryor.

Beyond infrastructure, the investment will be directed towards expanding educational opportunities and workforce development programmes across the state.

Additionally, Google has been boosting partnerships in the US energy field, signing a deal in July with Brookfield Asset Management.

The deal was a first-of-its-kind $3 billion hydroelectric power framework agreement (HFA) to provide up to 3,000 megawatts (MW) of zero-emission hydropower capacity in the US.

The agreement represents the largest corporate hydroelectric power deal to date and will see the first contracted assets covering Holtwood's Brookfield and Safe Harbor hydropower plants in Pennsylvania with a capacity of more than 670 MW.

Google has also extensively been investing in cloud infrastructure across Europe, including boosting funding of renewable energy projects to power its European data centres.

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