Microsoft invests €3B for AI development in Germany

Microsoft plans to invest €3.2 billion in Germany mainly for enhancing the nation’s AI infrastructure and to build new data centers.

Over the next two years, Microsoft a major player in the tech industry, plans to invest 3.2 billion euros ($3.44 billion) in Germany, mainly to improve the country’s artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.

Microsoft’s president and vice chairman Brad Smith, revealed the money on February 15 during a Berlin event discussing its future engagement plans for cloud and artificial intelligence development in the nation.

Microsoft intends to focus on constructing new data centers throughout the nation and instructing citizens in AI development. It is Microsoft’s largest investment in Germany in forty years, according to a Reuters story. Major technology developers are finding that investing in Europe is a profitable venture.

The same day, Google announced its intentions to establish a new AI-focused base in France in a statement issued by the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty of France.The center which will serve the nation’s aspirations for artificial intelligence is expected to be headquartered in Paris and house close to 300 researchers and engineers.

This statement follows Google’s Feb. 12 announcement of its “AI Opportunity Initiative for Europe” by only a few days. Google announced through the program that it will contribute 25 million euros, or $26.9 million, to the training of Europeans in the AI industry.

Google claimed that it is collaborating with academic institutions, businesses, civil society, and governments in the European Union to provide AI training to regional entrepreneurs. Ten million euros of this funding will go toward supporting people who will require these skills in order to prevent “being left behind.”

A similar effort was launched by the Italian government in 2023, stating that millions of euros would be set aside to help workers who face job loss as a result of automation and artificial intelligence improve their digital abilities.

As members of the European Parliament get ready to introduce the historic AI Act of the European Union, these investments in European AI infrastructure and expertise are being made. Regulators accepted the preliminary agreement for the law on February 13.

A parliamentary vote is planned for April 2 only to China, which unveiled its own set of regulations on the technology in August 2023, the EU AI Act would be among the first in the world to oversee the research and application of AI.