However, the sum is enough to create 10,000 new full-time jobs.
In a blog post published yesterday, CEO of Google and Alphabet, Sundar Pichai, said the investments will be channelled into "communities that are new to Google and expanding in others across 19 states".
On data centres, funds will go to expansions in Nebraska, South Carolina, Virginia, Nevada and Texas while existing sites in Nebraska, Ohio, Texas and Nevada "will be fully up and running in 2021".
As much as $1 billion will be directed to offices – a signature of brand Google – however, this will be focused on those in its home state of California.
On offices and recruitment, Pichai wrote: "Outside of the Bay Area, we’ll keep growing our offices across the US, including plans to add thousands of roles in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Chicago and New York. This will help bring more jobs and investment to diverse communities as part of our previously announced racial equity commitments.
"We’re already making progress: 2020 was our largest year ever for hiring Black and Latinx Googlers in the US, both overall and in tech roles," he continued.
The big sell in Pichai's post was Google's contributions to national economies and the development of future tech, particularly during the pandemic.
Quoting figures from the company's own Economic Impact Report – released on the same day – Pichai said that in 2020 Google Search, Google Play, YouTube and Google advertising tools "helped provide $426 billion of economic activity for more than two million American businesses, non-profits, publishers, creators and developers".
He also highlighted how the infrastructure and headcount boost would support the continued use of remote learning and e-commerce around the world.
Region by region
The big one is California. There, Google said it planned not only to continue its office investments, but also spearhead its ESG activities around affordable housing.
Pichai wrote: "In California, we will continue to invest in our offices in the state and support affordable housing initiatives in the Bay Area as part of our $1 billion housing commitment. We project that our $250 million investment fund will help create 24,000 housing units by 2029."
In South Carolina Google is increasing investments in its existing data centres, while in Durham, North Carolina, it is establishing its newest cloud engineering site close to the state's tech hub.
The data centre footprint in Nebraska will expand "with an additional investment", and data centre expansions are planned for Loudoun County, Virgina. In Nevada, the recently launched Henderson data centre, along with the facility in Storey County, will both expand in 2021.
In New York, Google remains on track to double the workforce to 2028, with campus builds planned to continue this year. Pichai's post added: " We’ll continue to invest in our Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania offices, as well as increase our workforce in Washington, DC."
The first US Google Operations Center is planned for Southaven, Mississippi, although a launch date was not given. New offices will open in Reston, Virgina, and Houston, Texas.
Google has also made plans for continued investment in the campuses in Austin, Texas, and Atlanta, Georgia and "further improvements" will be made to offices in Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Chicago.
Finally, on the west coast, Google will open a new office in Portland, Oregon, this year and investments are planned to continue in Kirkland and Seattle.
