Google is planning a large AI data center on Christmas Island, an Australian outpost located in the Indian Ocean.

Update -

A Google spokesperson contacted DCD with the following statement: "We are not constructing 'a large artificial intelligence data center' on Christmas Island. This is a continuation of our Australia Connect work to deliver subsea cable infrastructure, and we look forward to sharing more soon."

Original story resumes -

As reported by Reuters, the data center is part of a cloud computing agreement signed by Google and the Australian Department of Defence earlier this year.

Reuters saw documents pertaining to the data center project and spoke to Defence officials about the plans.

Beyond that it is planned for the island, which lies 350km off the coast of Indonesia, details about the data center remain unknown.

According to the report, military officials said that the island is viewed as a key asset for monitoring Chinese submarines and other naval activity in the area.

Bryan Clark, a former US Navy strategist, said that a command and control node on the island could be critical in a crisis.

Clark explained: "The data center is partly to allow you to do the kinds of AI-enabled command and control that you need to do in the future, especially if you rely on uncrewed systems for surveillance missions and targeting missions and even engagements."

Google is in "advanced talks" to acquire land near the island's airport for the facility, and energy will be provided by a local mining company.

Christmas Island Shire President Steve Pereira told Reuters that his administration is looking at the potential community impact before giving final approval.

He said: "There is support for it, providing this data center actually does put back into the community with infrastructure, employment, and adding economic value to the island."

Google and the defence agency signed a three-year cloud agreement in July 2025.

Last month, Google applied for environmental approvals to build a subsea cable connecting Christmas Island to Australia's Darwin in the north of the country, where the US Marine Corps is based for half of the year. Plans for cable were first revealed in November 2024.

Christmas Island spans just 135 sq km, and is known for the late-fall migration of the red crab to the sea. As of 2021, the island had a population of just 1,692 people. The majority of the island is a national park.

Australia's Department of Defense has large contracts with other US hyperscalers, including Microsoft and AWS. In July 2025, it signed a AU$495 million (US$324.71m) deal with Microsoft to use its cloud computing services.

Meanwhile, in July 2024, reports emerged that AWS was building a data center campus for Australia's government to handle top-secret information. The data center and cloud system will be developed as a partnership between AWS and the Australian government, and the latter will invest AU$2 billion (US$1.3bn) in the new system over the next ten years.