Amazon Announces $20 Billion Cloud/AI Project in Pennsylvania

Amazon is investing at least $20 billion in Pennsylvania to expand its data center infrastructure.

The new investment, announced Monday (June 9), is aimed at bolstering the tech giant’s artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing technologies.

The so-called “innovation campuses” are slated for Salem Township, just west of Pittsburgh, and Falls Township, a Philadelphia suburb, with Amazon considering multiple other communities in the state.

Amazon said the project will create at least 1,250 new jobs, while supporting thousands more along the Amazon Web Services (AWS) data center supply chain. These jobs include data center engineers and network specialists, engineering operations managers, security specialists and additional technical roles.

“Amazon’s multi-billion-dollar investment in Pennsylvania reinforces our dedication to advancing AI innovation while creating lasting economic opportunities in the state,” David Zapolsky, Amazon’s chief global affairs and legal officer, said in the announcement.

“By expanding our cloud computing infrastructure, we’re investing in Pennsylvania’s future through new jobs, workforce development programs, and community initiatives. We look forward to helping drive the next generation of technology innovation, while delivering meaningful benefits for Pennsylvania residents.”

The announcement comes less than a week after Amazon revealed it was making a similar investment in North Carolina, with the company planning to spend $10 billion to bolster its AI and cloud technology, while creating 500 jobs.

Efforts like these, PYMNTS wrote, underscore Amazon’s ambitions on the AI infrastructure front, as the company and its rival Walmart are leveraging AI to redefine shopping experiences, logistics and customer engagement.

Walmart is embracing “agentic AI,” autonomous digital agents perform tasks on behalf of users, while Amazon has begun enhancing its warehouse and logistics network using robots which can understand and respond to natural language commands.

“This is a bold step toward more adaptive automation and human-robot collaboration, promising increased efficiency and decreased operational friction,” PYMNTS wrote.

In a separate report last month, PYMNT wrote that after years of competing, Amazon and Walmart now face the same challenge: changing consumer behavior.

“Recent earnings reports have delivered a warning shot for both industry heavyweights,” that report said. “After years of riding the tailwinds of a pandemic-induced shift to digital shopping, both companies now face a slower-growth environment as consumer spending patterns evolve and tariffs threaten price increases on everything from furniture to clothing.”