On May 30, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced a $2 billion investment in Malaysia, with a portion dedicated to constructing the company's first data center and cloud region in the country to address the growing demand for AI and cloud services.

Ruth Porat, President and Chief Financial Officer of Google, stated that this investment is the largest in Google's 13-year operation in Malaysia and will support the Malaysian government's "cloud-first policy," including state-of-the-art cybersecurity standards.

The newly built data center will power Google's digital services such as Search, Maps, and Workspace, while the cloud region will serve companies and organizations in both the public and private sectors. Additionally, Google has launched two AI literacy programs in Malaysia aimed at enhancing AI knowledge among students and educators.

These investments and initiatives are expected to contribute over $3.2 billion to Malaysia's GDP by 2030 and support 26,500 job opportunities. This marks the newest addition to Google's global network of 40 regions and 121 zones.

This investment follows Microsoft's announcement earlier this month of a $2.2 billion investment in Malaysia aimed at advancing new cloud and AI infrastructure development. Microsoft has also announced investment plans in Indonesia and Thailand this year.

The rise of AI has increased the demand for cloud computing services and data centers as training AI models requires vast amounts of data, and the cloud provides access to massive datasets. Data centers are facilities required for storing data and running applications or services.

YB Senator Tengku Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Aziz, Malaysia's Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry, stated that Google's $2 billion investment will significantly drive the digital goals outlined in the "2030 National Industry Blueprint," enabling the manufacturing and service sectors to leverage advanced technologies such as AI to "enhance the global value chain."