Top management at Amazon appears to be planning to invest at least $20 billion to build two data centers in Pennsylvania. According to the state’s governor, Democrat Josh Shapiro, the new facilities will be located in Salem Township, next to the Susquehanna nuclear power plant, and in Falls Township, on the site of a former steel mill.
“Pennsylvania workers, over decades, over centuries, have made our Commonwealth and our country safer and freer, and what we are talking about here today is yet another national security issue that Pennsylvania can lead on,” Shapiro said on Monday. “See, right now, there is a battle for supremacy when it comes to AI, a battle that will be won by either the United States or China,” he added. “I’m comforted by the fact that thanks to Amazon, the future of AI is going to run right here through the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
Amazon’s project comes at a time when technology companies are competing with each other to develop increasingly effective and sophisticated artificial intelligence. This has sparked new interest in building data centers. President Trump launched the Stargate project in January, with the goal of investing $500 billion in dedicated AI infrastructure over the next four years.
However, the rapid development of this technology has also expanded energy demand, prompting major tech companies to seek more and more additional capacity, including in the form of nuclear power. Amazon has faced hurdles from federal regulators as it attempts to increase the flow of energy to its new data center, located near the Susquehanna nuclear power plant. In November, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rejected the company’s request to modify an existing agreement with the power plant to increase its capacity by 180 megawatts. The regulator later upheld its decision in April.
