April 25 (Reuters) - Amazon.com's ( AMZN )

cloud-computing arm said it would invest $11 billion in Indiana

to build data centers, marking the state's largest capital

investment, and promising at least 1,000 jobs.

The announcement by Amazon Web Services on Thursday builds

on the online retail giant's already strong presence in the

state, where it employs 26,000 full- and part-time staff.

The new facilities will be build in St Joseph County in

north-central Indiana and house computer equipment used to power

cloud computing and generative artificial intelligence. Amazon ( AMZN )

did not specify how many data centers would be established.

Big technology companies have been racing over the past year

to build data centers needed to power applications such as

OpenAI's viral ChatGPT as they try to capitalize on what is

expected to be the industry's next key growth driver.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp (IEDC) will offer

Amazon Web Services data center sales tax exemptions for

eligible capital investments over a 50-year term, the company

said.

The IEDC has also agreed to offer some performance-based

incentives, including up to $18.3 million in headcount-based tax

credits, up to $5 million in training grants and up to $55

million in Hoosier Business Investment tax credits.

"Amazon ( AMZN ) has long been an important economic partner in

Indiana, and we are excited to welcome AWS," Governor Eric

Holcomb said in a statement.

(Reporting by Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)