Google commits $740 mln to Australia months after threatening pull-out

The main operating unit of Alphabet Inc said it planned to expand cloud infrastructure

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Google will spend AUD1 billion ($736 million) in Australia over five years, the tech giant said on Tuesday, just months after it threatened to pull its services from the country in response to tougher government regulation.

The main operating unit of Alphabet Inc said it planned to expand cloud infrastructure, set up a research hub staffed by Australian researchers and engineers and partner with science agency the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

Google Australia Managing Director Mel Silva, who earlier this year threatened to block Google’s search engine in the country, said the spending plan would bring significant technology resources and investment.

Attending the funding announcement in Sydney, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was a "A$1 billion vote of confidence" in Australia’s digital economy strategy, which aims to put the country in the top 10 digital economies around the world by 2030.

"The decision by Google has major benefits for Australian businesses as we engage with the economic recovery before us," Morrison said. "It will bring more to STEM jobs to our shores ... across engineering, computing science and AI," he added, using the acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.