By Matthew Watkins and Emma Platoff

The Texas Tribune

Austin and Dallas are among 20 North American metropolitan areas being considered for a second headquarters for Amazon, the online retail giant announced Thursday morning.

The cities were among several in Texas that had been competing to lure the company. Competition among cities has been fierce, since Amazon says it plans to invest $5 billion on its new headquarters and create "as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs" in the city it picks.