Google to open its first data centre in Japan

CEO Sundar Pichai has said that Alphabet Inc’s Google plans to invest $690.13 million in Japan through 2024. The investment will be directed to submarine cables and human resource development.

Additionally, Google will open its first data centre in Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo next year, which will provide faster and more stable access to Google’s services and plans to begin operations there in 2023.

In addition to increasing the convenience of internet services for customers, Pichai said Google aims to support the digital transformation of Japanese companies through its cloud computing business. “I think it has an opportunity to lead in digital transformation” he added.

“We are responding to the macroeconomic uncertainty. As a business, we’ve always known ad spending is correlated to macroeconomic performance, and so we take that into account. Going into 2023, we will moderate the pace of hiring, compared with this year. But we’ll still be hiring in critical roles, especially product and engineering, and other critical functions.”

Pichai said Google will continue investing in focused areas like artificial intelligence. He also pointed out that Asia will become more important to the company, citing the rise of superapps, which offer various digital services, and short video platforms.

“Given our focus on Google Cloud, Asia will have to undergo a massive digital transformation across every sector. And we think Google has a role to play, so we view this as a big growth opportunity for Google Cloud as well. I pride [us] in our ability to take a long-term view, and our long-term view on Asia is very bullish,” Pichai further said.