Logistics, AI, rockets: Amazon wants to invest 16 billion euros in Germany

The Internet giant Amazon wants to invest a double-digit billion sum in its German business next year alone. This will create thousands of new jobs. There are also plans to involve Europe in the development of a Starlink competitor.

The Amazon trading platform wants to invest around 16 billion euros in Germany next year. The money will, among other things, flow into the expansion of data centers for the cloud provider AWS and the modernization of logistics locations, as the company announced. “We want to give companies, municipalities and creative people in Germany the infrastructure and tools they need to be competitive and grow,” emphasized Amazon General Counsel David Zapolsky.

It was said that around 3,000 additional jobs are currently being created in logistics alone. In addition, dozens of in-house productions are planned in Germany for the streaming service Amazon Prime. According to Amazon, it plans to invest around 4.8 billion euros, a large portion of the investment sum, in expanding its cloud and AI infrastructure. The money would flow into the so-called AWS Region Europe around Frankfurt am Main. Amazon did not provide further details about the investments. In addition to the online marketplace and logistics, the cloud provider AWS is another central business area of ​​the US group. According to the group, around 3,000 employees work for the division in Germany.

The company also said that the logistics centers are about investing in modern technologies such as robotics. Current modernization of the locations in Bad Hersfeld in Hesse and Dortmund and Herne in North Rhine-Westphalia are scheduled to be completed next year. A new center is currently being built in Könnern in Saxony-Anhalt.

The US company also secured 24 launches of the European Ariane launch vehicle to put its telecommunications satellites into orbit. Amazon's LEO satellite network is intended to compete with SpaceX's Starlink subsidiary. At the same time, Amazon is expanding its research capacities for artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics in Berlin.