Microsoft Plans To Invest $2.9 Bln In Japan To Boost AI

Tech major Microsoft Corp. plans to invest $2.9 billion in data centers in Japan by 2025 to boost its artificial intelligence or AI business, Nikkei reported citing an interview with President Brad Smith.

The company will announce its investment plans when the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is visiting the United States.

Microsoft, which is the major investor of OpenAI, the developer of highly popular generative AI chatbot ChatGPT, will install advanced AI semiconductors at two existing sites in eastern and western Japan.

The company also plans to announce an AI-related reskilling program in the country to train 3 million workers over three years.

The company also plans to conduct joint research with universities on automation technology.

The firm would set up a new lab in Tokyo for research and development on robotics and AI.

Microsoft Research Asia will set up the new lab and will provide 1.5 billion yen or $9.9 million to both the University of Tokyo and a partnership between Keio University and Carnegie Mellon University to fund research projects over the next five years.

In the interview, Smith said the adoption of AI and investments in domestic capability has become a critical national priority for governments around the world. According to him, AI is essential to sustain productivity growth, even when a country has a declining population.

Smith further said that the company will also partner with the Japanese government to strengthen cybersecurity resilience.

Smith said, “The threat landscape for cybersecurity has become more challenging. We’re seeing that from China and from Russia in particular, but we’re also seeing growing ransomware activity around the world.” He noted that a close partnership between leading tech companies and the government is one of the keys for protecting cyberspace.

The news comes as Japan, which has restricted the transfer of personal data to overseas data centers, is launching new measures to add more AI computing power in the country. Amazon Web Services or AWS and Google have announced major investments in data centers in Japan.

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