Google Plans $15 Billion Malaysia Expansion With New Data Centers in Two States
The planned campuses in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan will expand Google's local infrastructure while raising questions about electricity, water use and long-term employment.
Google plans to invest $15 billion in Malaysia in 2027 and 2028, expanding its data center network with new campuses in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. The announcement puts electricity supply and water management alongside computing capacity on the agenda as the company expands its local operations.
Google announced the plan on Nov. 4 at a Kuala Lumpur event attended by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. The company said its first Malaysian data center campus, at Elmina Business Park in Selangor, is already operating. It also plans to use computing infrastructure in Selangor for a forthcoming Google Cloud region serving enterprise customers.
The investment expands the Malaysian infrastructure program Google announced in 2024. A cloud region would give enterprise customers a Malaysian location for deploying supported services, while the data centers will also help run Google products used across the region. Google did not give a launch date for the cloud region in its Nov. 4 announcement.
In his keynote at the event, Anwar described the investment as part of Malaysia's push to widen access to digital technology and skills. That leaves separate milestones to track: the construction of the facilities, the services they can support and whether training leads to work in the sector.
Construction and Long-Term Jobs
Google projects that construction will support more than 37,000 jobs a year in Malaysia over the two-year investment period, including approximately 6,000 in construction itself. The company estimates the construction phase will contribute an annual average of $1.1 billion to gross domestic product.
Once the facilities are operating, Google projects they will sustain more than 9,000 local jobs annually. The company's estimate includes jobs with contractors and businesses serving workers, alongside positions at the campuses. On-site work includes technical, engineering, logistics and security roles. Both totals are company projections of employment supported across the economy.
Google also aims to train about 800,000 people from 2027 through 2031. The planned programs include AI education for teachers, workshops for small businesses and training for local government staff. A separate program at selected polytechnics in the two host states is intended to prepare vocational jobseekers for data center roles, using a 10-week course with equipment that simulates facility operations.
Power and Water Commitments
Google says it plans to add more than one gigawatt of clean energy capacity to Malaysia's grid. It is working with Tenaga Nasional Berhad on projects under the Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme, including an exploration of options that could provide clean power around the clock. Google says it will pay for the electricity its campuses use and the direct infrastructure costs of connecting them to the grid.
The company says it chose water cooling after assessing conditions in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. It outlined separate water projects, including watershed work in the Sungai Buloh and Sungai Selangor basins and rainwater harvesting and storage at four Selangor schools. The company says the school systems will serve routine non-drinking uses and provide emergency supplies during disruptions.
The power capacity, watershed projects and training totals describe different commitments on different timelines. The next milestones for the host states include the start of construction and the development of new power projects. Google says it discloses annual water consumption for operational data centers by location, providing a way to track actual use as facilities come online.