Tech Giant Commits $26 Billion to Create One of World's Largest AI Computing Clusters
November 25th, 2025: Hobart Confirmed as Primary Expansion SiteNew here? Follow stories to track developments over time. Create a free account to get updates when stories you care about change.
Amazon is transforming northern Indiana farmland into one of the world's largest artificial intelligence computing hubs. In November 2025, the company announced a $15 billion expansion on top of an $11 billion project already under construction near New Carlisle—bringing its total Indiana commitment to $26 billion and creating what officials call the state's largest construction project ever.
The investment reflects a fundamental shift in how AI companies are building infrastructure. Rather than compete for scarce power and land in Virginia's crowded data center corridor, Amazon is betting on the Midwest, where electricity is cheaper and available in quantity. The Indiana facilities will house nearly 500,000 of Amazon's custom Trainium chips, training AI models for Anthropic and powering the next generation of cloud services—while reshaping the energy economics of an entire region.
New Amazon data center
Amazon building $15B facility in northwest Indiana
WTHR
Newly announced Amazon data center to be built in Hobart
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Amazon announces $15 billion investment in data center ...
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Fictional AI pastiche — not real quote.
"So they've traded Virginia's drawing rooms for Indiana's cornfields, and call it progress when silicone replaces soil. One supposes the artificial intelligence will feel right at home—nothing grows quite so well on borrowed land as something that doesn't need to eat."
Fictional AI pastiche — not real quote.
"Aye, the man who builds toward the future builds toward fortune! Twenty-six billion for thinking machines in the heartland—here is proof that wealth flows not to those who hoard the old ways, but to those bold enough to lay new rails of progress where land is cheap and power plentiful. Though I confess, in my day we at least employed thousands of strong backs in our mills; let us hope these Trainium contraptions leave something for the common man beyond marveling at their masters' profits!"
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Amazon's cloud computing division and the world's largest provider of cloud infrastructure services.
Regional electric and gas utility serving northern Indiana, now building 3 gigawatts of new generation capacity for Amazon.
AI safety startup and creator of Claude, valued at $61.5 billion, with exclusive access to Amazon's Indiana computing infrastructure.
City officials confirm the 500-acre site at 61st Street and Colorado Avenue will host Amazon's $15 billion expansion. The city negotiated a $47 million upfront payment—reportedly the largest such payment in U.S. history for private development on private land.
Governor Mike Braun announces Amazon will invest an additional $15 billion to build data center campuses in Northwest Indiana, including a site in Hobart. The project will add 2.4 gigawatts of capacity and 1,100 jobs.
NIPSCO reveals plans to build two 1.3-gigawatt gas plants and 400 megawatts of battery storage to power Amazon's expansion. Amazon funds all new infrastructure; existing customers expected to save $1 billion over 15 years.
Amazon activates seven data center buildings at New Carlisle containing nearly 500,000 Trainium2 chips—the world's largest deployment of non-Nvidia AI accelerators. Anthropic begins training frontier models on the infrastructure.
Amazon increases its stake in Anthropic with an additional $4 billion investment. AWS becomes Anthropic's primary training partner, with Anthropic committing to use Amazon's Trainium chips.
Officials hold ceremonial groundbreaking on the 1,200-acre site. The campus will eventually include 30 buildings drawing 2.2 gigawatts of electricity.
Google announces Project Zodiac, a $2 billion hyperscale data center campus in Fort Wayne, adding to Indiana's growing cluster of technology infrastructure investments.
Governor Eric Holcomb announces Amazon Web Services will invest $11 billion to build a data center campus near New Carlisle in St. Joseph County, creating at least 1,000 jobs over a decade-long build.
Meta commits to building a 700,000-square-foot hyperscale data center campus in Jeffersonville, signaling Indiana's emergence as a data center destination.
Discussed by: Data Center Frontier, McKinsey analysis of regional data center trends
Amazon completes its buildout on schedule, other hyperscalers follow with additional investments, and Indiana emerges as the primary Midwest alternative to Virginia's congested data center corridor. The state's combination of available power, lower land costs, and utility willingness to build dedicated infrastructure attracts $50+ billion in cumulative investment by 2030.
Discussed by: Utility Dive, Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, PJM Interconnection capacity analyses
NIPSCO's new power plants face permitting delays or construction problems, forcing Amazon to slow its expansion timeline. Grid reliability concerns mount as data center demand approaches residential consumption levels. The 2027 target for initial power delivery slips, and full 2.4-gigawatt capacity isn't reached until the mid-2030s.
Discussed by: NBC Chicago, ABC7 Chicago coverage of Hobart city meetings, parallel cases in Michigan
Following the pattern of Howell Township, Michigan—where a $1 billion data center was withdrawn after community pushback—Indiana residents organize against additional sites. Concerns about minimal job creation per dollar invested, water usage, and industrial impact on residential areas lead local governments to reject future Amazon expansion requests.
Discussed by: CNBC technology coverage, semiconductor industry analysts
Amazon's bet on proprietary Trainium chips faces setbacks as Nvidia maintains its AI training dominance or new competitors emerge. The exclusive Anthropic partnership underdelivers, and Amazon pivots to hybrid chip strategies. Indiana facilities remain valuable but lose their distinctive role as the proving ground for non-Nvidia AI infrastructure.
Loudoun County, Virginia became home to the world's largest concentration of data centers after major internet companies like AOL established operations there in the 1990s. Proximity to Washington, D.C., abundant fiber connectivity, and low natural disaster risk attracted hyperscalers. By 2025, roughly 70% of global internet traffic flows through the county's 665 data centers.
Loudoun County became the wealthiest county in America by median household income, with data centers generating billions in tax revenue.
Grid congestion, land scarcity, and power constraints now limit new development. Hyperscalers are redirecting investment to Texas, Arizona, and increasingly the Midwest.
Indiana is positioning itself as the next major data center hub by offering what Virginia can no longer provide at scale: available power and land.
Tesla announced it would build a $5 billion battery factory in the Nevada desert, the largest building in the world by footprint. Nevada offered $1.3 billion in tax incentives. The factory employed 7,000 workers directly and transformed the Reno-Sparks economy, with dozens of supplier companies following.
Construction created thousands of jobs; housing prices in the region doubled as workers relocated.
The factory became a template for how large-scale manufacturing investments can reshape regional economies—and sparked debate about whether tax incentives deliver proportionate returns.
Amazon's Indiana investment follows a similar pattern: massive capital commitment, significant tax arrangements, and promises to transform a region's economic identity from agriculture and manufacturing to technology.
Foxconn announced a $10 billion LCD manufacturing plant in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, promising 13,000 jobs. The state offered $4.5 billion in incentives—the largest subsidy package in U.S. history for a foreign company. Governor Scott Walker called it 'transformational.'
Construction began, but plans repeatedly shrank. The promised 13,000 jobs became fewer than 1,500.
The project became a cautionary tale about mega-incentive deals. The state renegotiated in 2021, dramatically reducing both the project scope and public subsidies.
The Foxconn failure explains why some Indiana communities are cautious about data center deals offering relatively few permanent jobs per dollar invested. Amazon's arrangements include upfront payments and binding commitments that address some of these concerns.
