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A24 TECHNOLOGY
Friday 15 February 2019

This Tuesday, July 19, 2016, file photo shows the Google logo at
the company's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.
Associated Press
Google to invest

$13 billion in new U.S.

offices, data centers People walk into the lobby for Amazon offices Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019, in New York
Associated Press

By RACHEL LERMAN the construction of the new Amazon dumps NYC headquarters
AP Technology Writer centers will employ 10,000 and its promised 25,000 jobs
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — workers.
Google plans to invest It makes good political
more than $13 billion this sense for Google to high- By JOSEPH PISANI and AL- transit. Both would get 25,000 jobs.
year on new and expand- light its expansions outside EXANDRA OLSON "A small group politicians A third site in Nashville, Ten-
ed data centers and of- coastal cities, said CFRA AP Business Writers put their own narrow po- nessee, would get 5,000.
fices across the U.S. Research analyst Scott Kes- NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon litical interests above their The company planned to
CEO Sundar Pichai an- sler. U.S. legislators have abruptly dropped plans community," he said. spend $2.5 billion build-
nounced the news in a paid increasing attention Thursday for a big new But Democratic Rep. Alex- ing the New York office,
blog post Wednesday , to Google and other big headquarters in New York andria Ocasio-Cortez, New choosing the area in part
emphasizing the com- tech companies in the that would have brought York City's new liberal fire- because of its large pool of
pany's growth outside its past year, and are con- 25,000 jobs to the city, re- brand, exulted over Ama- tech talent.
Mountain View, California, sidering passing privacy versing course after politi- zon's pullout. The governor and the may-
home and across the Mid- laws to regulate the com- cians and activists object- "Today was the day a or had argued that the
west and South. panies' reach. Investing ed to the nearly $3 billion group of dedicated, every- project would spur eco-
"2019 marks the second more widely across the U.S. in tax breaks promised to day New Yorkers and their nomic growth that would
year in a row we'll be grow- could help it curry favor what is already one of the neighbors defeated Ama- pay for the $2.8 billion in
ing faster outside of the with federal politicians and world's richest, most power- zon's corporate greed, its state and city incentives
(San Francisco) Bay Area officials, he said. ful companies. worker exploitation, and many times over.
than in it," he wrote. Google is focused on ex- "We are disappointed to the power of the rich- After Amazon backed out,
Google will build new data panding its cloud-com- have reached this conclu- est man in the world," she the mayor criticized it for
centers in Nevada, Tex- puting business, a market sion — we love New York," tweeted, referring to Ama- not doing more to try to win
as, Oklahoma, Nebraska, where it faces stiff competi- the online giant from Se- zon CEO Jeff Bezos. over New Yorkers, saying:
Ohio, South Carolina and tion from larger rivals Ama- attle said in a blog post an- The swift unraveling of the "You have to be tough to
Virginia. Pichai estimated zon and Microsoft.q nouncing its withdrawal. project reflected growing make it in New York City."
The stunning move was a antipathy toward large In pulling out, Amazon said
Vatican, Microsoft serious blow to Gov. An- technology companies it isn't looking for a replace-
drew Cuomo and Mayor among liberals and popu-
ment location "at this time."
team up on artificial Bill de Blasio, who had lob- lists who accuse big busi- It said it plans to spread the
technology jobs that were
bied intensely to land the ness of holding down wag-
project, competing against es and wielding too much slated for New York to other
intelligence ethics more than 200 other met- political clout, analysts said. offices around the U.S. and
ropolitan areas across the "This all of a sudden be-
Canada, including Chi-
continent that were prac- came a perfect test case cago, Toronto and Austin,
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The The Vatican said Smith and tically tripping over each for all those arguments," Texas. It will also expand its
Vatican says it is teaming Archbishop Vincenzo Pa- other to offer incentives to said Joe Parilla, a fellow existing New York offices,
up with Microsoft on an glia of the Pontifical Acad- Amazon in a bidding war at the Brooking Institution's which already have about
academic prize to pro- emy for Life told Francis the company stoked. Metropolitan Policy Project. 5,000 employees.
mote ethics in artificial in- about the international Cuomo lashed out at fellow Amazon ultimately decid- Amazon faced fierce op-
telligence. prize for an individual who New York politicians over ed it did not want to be position over the tax breaks,
Pope Francis met privately has successfully defended Amazon's change of heart, drawn into that battle. with critics complaining
on Wednesday with Micro- a dissertation on ethical is- saying the project would Amazon announced in No- that the project was an
soft President Brad Smith sues involving artificial intel- have helped diversify the vember that it had chosen extravagant giveaway —
and the head of a Vatican ligence. The winner will re- city's economy, cement its the Long Island City section or worse, a shakedown —
scientific office that pro- ceive 6,000 euros ($6,900) status as an emerging tech of Queens for one of two and that it wouldn't pro-
motes Catholic Church po- and an invitation to Micro- hub and generate money new headquarters, with the vide much direct benefit to
sitions on human life. soft's Seattle headquarters. for schools, housing and other in Arlington, Virginia. most New Yorkers.q