As part of the internet giant’s attempt to strengthen its cloud offering in Europe, Amazon’s computing company AWS is in negotiations with Italy to spend billions of euros in the growth of its data centre business in the nation, according to four individuals familiar with the situation.

The sources state that talks are still on between the parties over the scope and location of the investment, and that Amazon Web Service (AWS) is thinking about either creating a new facility or expanding its existing one in Milan.

AWS declined to comment, as did a representative for the cabinet’s office digital transition department. It was not immediately possible to reach an industry ministry representative in Italy for comment.

AWS announced plans to invest 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) by 2029, including the creation of its first cloud region in Italy in 2020.

According to its website, among its clients in the nation are insurer Assicurazioni Generali and luxury automaker Ferrari.

AWS has revealed a 15.7 billion euro investment in data centres located in the northern Aragon area of Spain. This replaces the 2.5 billion euro 10-year plan that the business had previously announced in 2021 specifically for the nation.

One of the sources claims that although AWS will invest billions in Italy, it might not go as far as its ambitions for Spain. There won’t be a statement anytime soon.

Through 2040, AWS intends to invest 7.8 billion euros in Germany.

The New Administrative Capital of Egypt is home to Egypt’s electric taxi service. AWS is also developing the necessary infrastructure to offer cloud services to telecom clients, which will need significant resources.

When Telefonica Deutschland revealed earlier this month that it will be migrating 1 million consumers to the AWS cloud, it acquired its first client.

In order to preserve the privacy of government data and that of its clients in highly regulated businesses, Amazon last year announced intentions to store data on servers situated in the European Union.

Many large corporate clients have resumed spending on cloud computing, according to analysts and executives, after taking a break last year. This is because artificial intelligence is fueling a surge in growth for the $270 billion cloud infrastructure industry.

Alphabet, which signed a historic agreement in 2020 to provide cloud services to Intesa Sanpaolo, the largest bank in Italy, has invested one billion euros in Italy to establish the two cloud regions that the bank depends on.

A year ago, Microsoft declared that it will be establishing its first cloud region in Italy as part of an investment plan that would cost $1.5 billion and be unveiled in 2020.

(Adapted from Reuters.com)