Microsoft plans billion-dollar AI investment in Germany
Microsoft plans billion-dollar AI investment in Germany
Tech giant Microsoft is ready to promote the development of artificial intelligence in Germany and expects to allocate 3.2 billion euros over two years for this purpose.
Germany's economy has become the second largest in the world in terms of GDP, so many tech companies are focused on integrating into the European Union and Germany.
Microsoft President Brad Smith announced the company's upcoming investment goals at a conference on cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) development in Berlin on February 15.
Microsoft is interested in building powerful data centers in Germany and is willing to invest in training industry professionals and promoting AI capabilities. The investment is for 3.2 billion euros and will be Microsoft's largest project in Germany, Reuters reported.
The EU is attracting investment from many major technology developers. Google, for example, plans to create a new artificial intelligence center in Paris, which has already been announced by the French Finance Ministry. The center is designed to maintain France's leading position in cloud technology and will house 300 researchers and technicians.
On February 12, Google announced plans for European integration through the Artificial Intelligence Capabilities Initiative in Europe project. The company has earmarked 25 million euros for investment and aims to train and support AI professionals.
Google said it will work closely with EU governments, academics, and developers to train employees of new companies and startups in artificial intelligence technologies. 10 million of this amount will go directly to improving the skills of workers who want to "not be left behind."
Similar initiatives are underway in Italy, where the government is ready to allocate millions of euros to develop the digital skills of workers to enable them to work in AI.
AI infrastructure in Europe will require a lot of investment, especially as the European Parliament is poised to pass a landmark AI law. Regulators approved a preliminary agreement on the law on February 13, and the Parliament will decide its fate in April.
The EU AI law will be the first in the world to propose rules to oversee the development and use of artificial intelligence, second only to China, which legislated the technology in August 2023.
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