Alphabet’s Google has appointed senior executive Amin Vahdat as its Chief Technologist for AI Infrastructure, according to an internal memo reported by Semafor on Wednesday. The move highlights Google’s growing focus on building the massive computing systems needed to power artificial intelligence.

Google is sharply increasing its spending on data centres and hardware, with capital expenditures expected to exceed $90 billion by the end of the year.

In the memo, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said the appointment shows that AI infrastructure is now a key priority for the company.

Tech giants are in a fierce race for AI dominance, where the availability of computing power — known as compute capacity — is becoming a major competitive advantage.

Google is relying on its own AI chips, called Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), and large-scale infrastructure to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving market.

Meanwhile:

• Microsoft is investing heavily in data centres and expanding its partnership with OpenAI.

• Amazon is growing its custom chip development for AWS.

The AI boom has reshaped priorities across the tech industry, with Google CEO Sundar Pichai stressing the importance of disciplined spending supported by a strong $155 billion cloud backlog.