Germany: Microsoft will invest 3.3 billion euros in AI capabilities
February 15, 2024
Tech giant Microsoft said on Thursday it planned to invest almost 3.3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) in expanding its presence in Germany.
The investment will go towards doubling the capacity of Microsoft’s “AI and data center infrastructure” in the EU country, Vice President Brad Smith said in Berlin at an event with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
In addition to artificial intelligence (AI), the company wants to boost its cloud computing applications, Smith said in Berlin.
Germany is “constantly at the forefront” of technological progress, Smith said. But it suffers from a lack of AI skills.
Microsoft’s investment “would help build infrastructure to help the German economy continue to use AI and build the skills base to fill needed jobs,” according to the company’s vice president.
The investment will include a program training up to 1.2 million people in new AI capabilities.
The investment would be the largest the company has ever made in Germany in its 40-year history. The majority would be concentrated in the country’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, news agency DPA reported.
Scholz welcomes big investments
“This is a really good commitment to progress, to growth, to modernity and to global openness as the basis for these opportunities,” said the German Chancellor.
He said this highlights the “fact that Germany remains very determined to be an open economy.”
“Not only are we probably the most successful export economy in the world in terms of the size of our country, but we are also a country
that trades with the whole world, that invests everywhere, but also invests in our own country”, said Scholz.
Microsoft’s announcement will be a welcome sign from the tech giant as the German government reels from public anger and a weakening economy.
More to follow…
ab/xx (dpa, AFP)
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Source: DW
Lori Barajas is an accomplished journalist, known for her insightful and thought-provoking writing on economy. She currently works as a writer at 247 news reel. With a passion for understanding the economy, Lori’s writing delves deep into the financial issues that matter most, providing readers with a unique perspective on current events.