Google’s planned $15 billion investment in an artificial intelligence (AI) hub in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, is intended to help scale AI applications across India, from healthcare screening to Indian-language tools, while supporting the company’s own services and external cloud customers, Alexander Smith, Principal, Global Infrastructure, Asia Pacific, Google told TNIE.
The first phase of the project is scheduled to open in 2028. The hub will be spread across three campus locations, with multiple buildings, and is designed to provide computing power, international connectivity and supporting infrastructure.
“We really look at this as building an end-to-end hub that is bringing connectivity, that is bringing capabilities into India that can be very multi-purpose and adaptable,” Smith said.
The investment is part of Google’s plan to build infrastructure in India to support growing demand for AI. Smith said the company was seeing adoption across consumer, government and enterprise uses.
One example Smith cited was Google’s work with Aravind Eye Hospital to use AI to detect diabetic retinopathy, a condition that can lead to blindness.
“The clinical breakthrough to do that type of research and applied AI in those hospitals already exists,” he said. “What’s needed now is that the underlying local infrastructure needs to scale so that screening that can happen in one hospital can now be spread across hundreds across the country.”
Smith also pointed to Indian-language technology being developed with partners such as Sarvam AI, which uses Google’s Gemma models. He said more computing capacity would help developers build voice-based tools for everyday use across India’s 22 officially recognised languages.
The hub will also support Google products such as Search, Gemini, Maps, YouTube, voice and translation services. Smith said local infrastructure could help tailor services to Indian users and reduce delays, including buffering when watching YouTube.
The project will include subsea cable connections linking India with regions including Southeast Asia, Australia and Europe. The company is also developing the America-India Connect initiative.
Smith said the additional cable capacity would not be reserved exclusively for Google.
“When we invest in those types of transcontinental projects, these are nation building projects for a reason, and that is because capacity on those cables becomes available to the Indian market,” he said.
Google plans to use closed-loop cooling systems designed to require no ongoing water for cooling, apart from water used in facilities such as toilets and kitchens.
Smith said the company would publish water consumption figures for individual data centres once they become operational. It also plans to assess local water risks and fund audited replenishment projects.