SINES, Portugal: A massive data centre project in Portugal is set to receive a multi-billion-euro boost, as tech giants fuel global demand for cloud infrastructure and AI capabilities.

U.S. investment fund Davidson Kempner and the UK's Pioneer Point Partners announced plans to invest 8.5 billion euros (US$9.35 billion) by 2030 into Start Campus, a major data hub under construction in the coastal city of Sines, about 150 km south of Lisbon.

The joint venture already has one of its six planned buildings operational, with the rest slated for phased development over the next several years.

Investments in large-scale data centres have soared since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, with companies increasingly shifting workloads to the cloud and integrating AI into their services, driving a global race to expand digital infrastructure.

Portugal's caretaker Economy Minister, Pedro Reis, said the project is a "structuring investment for the Portuguese economy, which helps to place Portugal in a strategic position in the data economy, taking advantage of Sines' privileged geographical location."

Located near undersea cable landing stations and with access to renewable energy, Sines is fast becoming a strategic digital gateway between Europe, Africa, and the Americas.