Amazon Web Services to Invest $5bn in South Korea as AI Boom Spurs Global Infrastructure Race
Amazon Web Services (AWS) will invest at least $5 billion in South Korea by 2031 to build new artificial intelligence data centers, the South Korean presidency announced on Wednesday.
This investment marks the growing global race among major technology companies to build the infrastructure needed to support the next wave of AI development.
The announcement was made during a meeting between AWS CEO Matt Garman and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju. President Lee said the investment would help “accelerate the growth of an ecosystem for South Korea’s AI industry,” reaffirming the government’s ambition to transform the country into one of the world’s top three AI powers.
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Garman said the project is part of AWS’ broader global expansion plan, which includes $40 billion in additional investments in 14 non-U.S. APEC countries by 2028.
“This $40 billion actually generates an additional $45 billion in terms of U.S. GDP and downstream benefits, benefiting the entire APEC economy,” Garman said at a trade event on the sidelines of the summit.
AWS plans to build new data centers on the outskirts of Seoul. Once completed, the facilities are expected to strengthen South Korea’s AI infrastructure, providing data processing capabilities to domestic technology startups and multinational companies. The investment will also support Seoul’s national strategy to become a regional leader in cloud computing and advanced digital services.
The move follows AWS’ $4 billion investment announced in June to collaborate with South Korea’s SK Group in building the country’s largest data center in Ulsan. It also reflects a global trend among large technology companies racing to secure the IT infrastructure critical to training and deploying AI models.
The acceleration of artificial intelligence has pushed companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI to rapidly expand data center construction, both inside and outside the United States. The increase in demand for AI computing power has also transformed data center development into one of the most capital-intensive sectors of the global technology industry.
In India, AWS announced a $12.7 billion investment earlier this year to expand its cloud infrastructure by 2030, with major data hubs planned in Telangana and Maharashtra. Microsoft has also committed to expanding its Indian data centers in Hyderabad, while Google has accelerated its own AI-focused expansion in the country to serve its growing base of enterprise customers.
Beyond Asia, AWS has announced multibillion-dollar data center projects in Australia, Japan and Singapore, all aimed at supporting local AI research and enterprise adoption. In Japan, the company is investing $15 billion to expand its cloud footprint through 2027, while in Australia it plans to inject more than $9 billion to build facilities powering AI, cybersecurity and energy-efficient computing.
The global rush reflects a new phase in the AI infrastructure arms race, driven by unprecedented demand for high-performance chips, cloud storage and energy-efficient data processing. With AI models like ChatGPT and Gemini requiring enormous compute capacity, hyperscalers like AWS and Microsoft Azure are positioning themselves as the backbone of the emerging AI economy.
South Korea, with its powerful semiconductor industry and growing AI ecosystem, has become a focal point in this race. Earlier this month, the country’s presidential office confirmed that OpenAI plans to form joint ventures with Samsung and SK Group to build two data centers, dubbed “Korean-style Stargate,” with an initial capacity of 20 megawatts. OpenAI also signed initial chip supply agreements with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
Taken together, recent commitments from AWS and OpenAI highlight South Korea’s emergence as a key node in the global AI infrastructure network. The wave of foreign investment marks not only a technological milestone for Seoul, but also a strategic moment in its ambition to redefine its global economic identity, moving from a manufacturing powerhouse to a digital innovation hub at the forefront of the AI revolution.
