Amazon to Invest $11 Billion in European Cloud

Amazon will invest €10 billion ($11 billion) in Germany to expand its logistics and cloud operations to meet growing demand in Europe.

The investment is expected to add 4,000 new jobs this year, meaning by the end of 2024, Amazon will have more than 40,000 permanent employees in Germany. The company estimates its investment will add €15.4 billion to Germany’s GDP by 2026.

Some of the €10 billion investment will be used partly to expand three fulfillment centers in Germany, but the vast majority, €8.8 billion, will be spent on Amazon Web Services in anticipation of AI-related demand in Europe.

Stefan Hoechbauer, AWS Managing Director for Germany and Europe says: “AWS is more committed than ever to helping German customers lead and build new technologies and services using the wide variety of capabilities in the AWS Cloud, including generative AI.”

The latest announcement comes after AWS in May announced a planned investment of €7.8 billion to build the AWS European Sovereign Cloud project, which aims to meet European regulatory needs for “data sovereignty.” The AWS European Sovereign Cloud will offer all AWS services and capabilities in a cloud infrastructure that is independent and separate from other AWS regions.

The project is intended to give public and private organizations more choice when they are required to adhere to regulations about keeping European data in Europe. The first Sovereign Cloud’s first AWS Region will open by the end of 2025.

Max Peterson, AWS Vice President of Sovereign Cloud, said: “We’re investing heavily in new local talent and infrastructure, which will help provide the operational sovereignty our customers require.”

Since 2010, Amazon has invested more than €150 billion in Europe, with €77 billion in Germany alone. It now employs more than 150,000 people in permanent roles in the EU.

Amazon’s growth trajectory shows no signs of slowing down, as the company recently committed $230 million to generative AI startups.