Aug 13 (Reuters) - Alphabet's Google said on Wednesday

it will spend an additional $9 billion in Oklahoma over the next

two years to expand cloud and artificial intelligence

infrastructure.

The company will build a new data center campus in

Stillwater and expand its Pryor facility to bolster U.S. AI and

cloud capacity, alongside education and workforce programs.

Intensifying competition among Big Tech companies has

prompted them to spend heavily on building new data center sites

and skills development amid booming demand for AI services.

Last month, Alphabet raised its annual capital spending

plans to about $85 billion from $75 billion previously and

signaled more to come next year.

Alphabet and its peers have defended their heavy AI spending

as essential to fueling growth and improving products amid high

competition from Chinese rivals and investor frustration over

slower-than-expected returns.

Google also committed $1 billion to AI education and

training for U.S. higher education institutions and nonprofits

last week. Rivals including OpenAI, Anthropic and Amazon ( AMZN )

have made similar pushes around AI in education.

More than 100 universities have signed on to Google's

initiative so far, including some of the nation's largest public

university systems such as Texas A&M and the University of North

Carolina.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump's onshoring push has

also accelerated AI infrastructure investments by companies such

as Micron, Nvidia ( NVDA ) and CoreWeave ( CRWV ).

Apple ( AAPL ) also announced last week that it plans to

spend $600 billion in the U.S. over the next four years.