Remember the GT Advanced sapphire facility? It’s going to be a command center for Apple
CNBC reported today that the GT Advanced plant in Mesa, Arizona, originally tasked with the job of making sapphire for screens, buttons, and other bits and pieces of Apple gear, is now going to be taken over by the company that allegedly caused GT Advanced to go out of business — Apple.
Apple will be spending a cool US$2 billion to transform the factory into a data center that will act as a command center for the company’s worldwide data network.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey took to Twitter to tout the investment and the jobs (about 150 full-time Apple employees, about 300-500 engineering and construction jobs) that will benefit the state. Ducey has had a good week, with his state playing host to Super Bowl XLIX yesterday and this announcement coming today.
I’m pleased to announce #Apple is expanding to #AZ with a $2 billion investment in #Mesa.http://t.co/pfWI8pXALe #AZmeansBiz
– Doug Ducey (@dougducey) February 2, 2015