Texas Wins A Slice Of Tech Giant Google’s $13 Billion Expansion In US

Google is adding a $600 million data center in a Dallas suburb, one of three projects announced this week as the search-engine giant undertakes a $13 billion expansion in the U.S.

The initiative, which comes amid growing antitrust scrutiny of the Mountain View, Calif.-based company and its Silicon Valley peers, illustrates the economic benefits linked to such companies that supporters often cite in their defense.

Google’s planned investments in 2019 encompasses investments in 14 states, CEO Sundar Pichai siad in February. That includes Midlothian, Texas — about 25 miles outside of Dallas — where the company will hire 50 full-time workers over the next few years in addition to employing hundreds of construction workers.

“2019 marks the second year in a row we’ll be growing faster outside of the Bay Area than in it,” Pichai said. “This growth will allow us to invest in the communities where we operate, while we improve the products and services that help billions of people and businesses globally.”

Google announced $17 million in investments in Detroit and Ann Arbor, Mich., on Monday. The firm also announced a $600 million expansion in Pryor, Okla., on Thursday, bringing its total investment in the Midwestern state to $3.2 billion.

“This site is an important part of our global network of data centers,” said Pichai, who traveled to Pryor for the announcement. “This network is what powers your searches, your email, all of the photos you store and treasure, and the maps that help you find the fastest way home.”

Despite such investments and its onetime motto of “Don’t be evil,” Google is grappling with backlash in both Europe and the U.S. The House Judiciary Committee is opening a broad investigation into complaints that Silicon Valley giants are muscling out competitors, even as Democratic presidential contenders suggest some firms should be broken up.

In 2018, European regulators said Google had required phonemakers using its open-source Android operating system to install the Google Search and Google Chrome apps on devices in order to connect to the Google Play app store. Phonemakers were barred from preinstalling Google apps on any devices if they also offered products running Android software developed without the company’s approval.―Washington Examiner