Overview
- Reuters reports Google is pursuing a large AI facility on the Australian territory after a three-year cloud agreement with the Defence Department in July, while the company and Defence declined to comment and key details remain undisclosed.
- Google has applied for environmental approval for the island’s first subsea cable to Darwin, with U.S. contractor SubCom named in project documents as the installer.
- Christmas Island officials say Google is in advanced talks to lease land near the airport and is negotiating energy supply with a local mining company as the council reviews community impacts and approvals.
- Military analysts say the site could support AI-enabled command and control for uncrewed surveillance, with a cable offering higher bandwidth and greater reliability than satellites in a crisis.
- Community views are split over tourism and defence activity, while Alphabet shares rose about 2.44% after the reports.