ByJames MassolaJune 15, 2025 — 6.54amSaveLog in,registerorsubscribeto save articles for later.Save articles for laterAdd articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.Got itNormal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text sizeSeattle:Global tech giant Amazon Web Services will increase its spending on data centres in Australia to $20 billion over the next five years, company chief executive Matt Garman says.In a joint announcement alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the company’s “Amazon Spheres” building in Seattle, Garman said additional spending was needed so the company could meet increasing demand for access to artificial intelligence, cloud-based storage and more for some of Australia’s biggest companies.Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Amazon Web Services chief executive Matt Garman in Seattle.Credit:Alex EllinghausenThose companies include the big four banks, Telstra and Optus and a range of other IT and services companies, including Atlassian and Canva.The company, which is investing heavily in a range of power technologies including nuclear and renewables across the world to meet the huge electricity demands of artificial intelligence, will also invest in two new solar farms in Victoria and one in Queensland, an increase from the eight it currently invests in and uses.Amazon already has 37 major data centre “regions” across the world, including one in each of Melbourne and Sydney, and the expanded investment will see these centres significantly expanded.The US-based company, best known for its ubiquitous online shopping services, has already spent about $9 billion in Australia and had planned to increase its spend to $13 billion, but surging demand for its web services meant the company’s investment would rise to $20 billion by 2029.Amazon’s warehouse in Kemps Creek in Sydney has a huge solar panel array on its roof.Credit:Nick Moir“We think that AI has really the ability to change every industry, and we look at a couple of our customers. First, we look at a customer like CommBank. CommBank is launching an AI factory powered by AWS to completely change how they do innovation,” Garman said.“They expect that AI will allow them to drive innovation up to four times faster than they do today ... We can look at the Australian national swimming team, we used AI to help their swimmers improve, and actually led to improvements in their performance in the pool, helping them win seven gold medals in the Paris Olympics.”Advertisement“So AI is changing everything that we see, from sports to industry to the economy.”Albanese hailed the investment as a significant potential booster to productivity growth in the Australian economy.Loading“My government’s agenda for this term is very much about productivity. It was the centrepiece of a speech that I gave just this week in Canberra, and something where I’ll be bringing together private sector interests as well as other groups who have an interest in how does the Australian economy grow in the future?” he said.Albanese said the Amazon investment would boost Australia’s economic growth, “our resilience and our productivity. It will accelerate the development of Australia’s growing data centre infrastructure and support technology adoption by Australian businesses”.Asked whether Australia should be looking to invest in nuclear power, given the huge demand for power of data centres and Amazon’s investment in nuclear in the US, Garman said “here in the United States, we see nuclear as part of that portfolio. Our investments in Australia are wind and solar”.“There’s no question that we will continue to ignore more power going forward, and it’s an important thing that we spend a lot of time on.”Amazon is the third-largest purchaser of renewable energy in Australia and the largest in the world for the last five consecutive years, which allowed it to reach its goal of being 100 per cent powered by renewable energy in 2023, seven years ahead of schedule.Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights.Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.SaveLog in,registerorsubscribeto save articles for later.License this articleAIAmazonAnthony AlbaneseCanberraJames Massolais Chief Political Commentator. He has previously been National Affairs editor, Sunday political correspondent and South-East Asia correspondent.Connect viaTwitter,Facebookoremail.Loading