Google: US tech giant will invest $ 740 million in Australia

Google has announced that it will invest one billion Australian dollars (740 million dollars, 550 million pounds) in Australia over the next five years.

It is the US tech giant’s largest investment in the country to date.

Google says the money will be used to build a research center, increase its cloud computing capacity, and fund partnerships with local organizations.

The move, dubbed the Digital Future Initiative, is expected to directly create 6,000 jobs and support 28,000 in total.

“Australia can help lead the world’s next wave of innovation by harnessing technology to improve lives, create jobs and advance,” said Google chief Sundar Pichai at the initiative’s launch in Sydney. .

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also welcomed the plan: “Google’s decision has major benefits for Australian companies as we engage with the economic recovery ahead of us.”

The investment will see the company partner with local organizations, including the Australian science agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO).

Joshua Kennedy-White of IT investment firm DivisionX Global called Google’s announcement a “big win” for Australian technology:

“It takes money to transform an idea into innovation and the first money is the hardest to find.

“If Google cut $ 250,000 in checks to promising start-ups, they could fund 4,000 new tech companies in Australia,” he said.

The move marks another major impetus for Sydney’s ambitions to become the “Silicon Valley of the Southern Hemisphere”.

Construction of Tech Central, a multi-billion dollar hub in central Sydney, is expected to begin next year and continue until 2026.

However, in recent months in Australia, big tech companies have been targeted for failing to pay local news publishers for content broadcast on their platforms. They have also been accused of encouraging the spread of disinformation.

During Australian Parliament hearings in January, Google Australia CEO Mel Silva threatened to block his search engine in the country to avoid paying for content posted on its websites.

The following month Australia became the first country in the world to pass legislation require large tech companies, including Google and Facebook, to pay for news content on their platforms.

There have also been calls to reduce Google’s search engine dominance in the country.

Last month, the head of the Australian competition regulator asked Google to install a “choice screen” on smartphones, giving users the ability to choose another search engine.