Google’s announcement of a $40 billion investment in Texas, aimed at expanding its Cloud and Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure through 2027, has triggered a new high-profile exchange between two of the world’s most influential tech CEOs – Google’s Sundar Pichai and Tesla’s Elon Musk.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai revealed the new move, highlighting the scale of the company’s plans for the Lone Star State, where it has maintained a presence for 15 years. The investment will focus on establishing new data centers in Armstrong and Haskell Counties, significantly boosting Cloud and AI capabilities, and supporting thousands of new jobs. Additionally, Google plans to fund efforts to double the state’s projected pipeline of new electricians.
“Today, we’re announcing a new $40B investment in Texas through 2027 to build Cloud and AI infrastructure and support thousands of new jobs,” Pichai wrote on social media. He also elaborated that this “includes new data centers in Armstrong and Haskell Counties and a major investment to strengthen energy resilience and abundance.”
Elon Musk responds to Pichai
The announcement drew a public response from fellow tech leader Elon Musk, who has established the headquarters of several of his own ventures, including Tesla and SpaceX, in Texas. Musk, known for his scathing commentary, expressed astonishment at the sheer speed and size of capital flowing into computational power.
Responding to the news, Musk stated, “It’s mind-blowing how much money is being spent on AI compute so fast! But still many orders of magnitude to go…”
Pichai promptly replied, using a touch of humour to highlight Texas’s suitability for such massive infrastructure projects. Pichai wrote, “Between abundant sand, plenty of sun and space (literally) to put it in, we can do it :)”
Google promises that the $40 billion initiative will prioritise responsible growth, including incorporating clean energy resources into the Texas electrical grid to manage the vast power requirements of its new data centers.
AI datacenters going to space
The massive investment in ground-based AI infrastructure is being accompanied by the ambition to move data centers into space. Companies like Google, with its Project Suncatcher, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX are exploring the creation of orbital data centers. Unlike Earth, space offers key advantages, like unlimited, continuous solar energy above the atmosphere, natural passive cooling from the vacuum of space, and virtually limitless physical space for expansion.
Google’s Project Suncatcher aims to test machine learning hardware in orbit using constellations of solar-powered satellites, while Musk wants to build Starlink-based AI supercomputers.
