Amazon to invest €16bn in Germany in AI push

Amazon plans to invest more than 16 billion euros in Germany next year, including in data centres and other infrastructure linked to artificial intelligence.

The company announced the plan on Tuesday at a government-hosted business summit in Berlin. It said nearly five billion euros would go toward expanding Amazon Web Services operations in the Frankfurt area as demand grows for AI services.

Amazon said other spending would support Amazon Leo, its satellite internet project, warehouse upgrades including more robotics, and new Amazon Prime productions in Germany.

David Zapolsky, Amazon's chief global affairs and legal officer, said the company had already invested more than 100 billion euros in Germany since 2010.

Economy Minister Katherina Reiche said Amazon's investment would strengthen Germany's position in international technology competition and create value and jobs.

The summit gathered more than 200 corporate leaders as the German government seeks new investment. Reiche said companies had pledged more than 220 billion euros in investments at the event.