Microsoft announced it is investing $4.3 billion in technology projects in France.
The company said on Monday (May 13) that the spending package will focus on cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, “acquiring AI skills, accelerating French Tech” and training 1 million people by 2027. It announced that it has a goal of supporting 2,500 AI startups.
This news marks Microsoft’s largest investment in France in the company’s 41-year history of operations in France.
This was announced as part of the annual “Choose France” summit, which aims to make France the financial hub of Europe. More than $14 billion in investment is expected from global companies this year, including a $1.29 billion AI-focused program by Amazon.
This significant investment demonstrates our commitment to supporting digital innovation and economic growth in France,” Microsoft Vice Chairman and President Brad Smith said in the announcement.
“We are building a state-of-the-art cloud and AI infrastructure and training talent with AI skills so that French startups can confidently use our technology to grow in a fair and responsible way. We support you.”
The project will see Microsoft expand its data center footprint at existing locations in the Paris and Marseille regions, while also investing in the construction of a new data center campus in France’s Grand Est region.
The investment was made to give Microsoft an edge in the AI race against tech giants like Amazon, Meta and Google, technology analysts said last week as the company unveiled a $3.3 billion data hub in Wisconsin. Václav Binkarek said in an interview with PYMNTS.
“It seems like there are ‘big’ AI announcements coming out every week, but most of them are just news fodder,” Vinkarek told PYMNTS.
“$3.3 billion is not a small amount, but it’s just a number right now. It was the same thing two weeks ago when Google announced a multibillion-dollar AI investment. Big companies will be seen as AI companies. I hope so, but until I see concrete results that positively impact business operations, I’m not going to rely on any particular company right now.”
As AI infrastructure becomes available, companies will have access to more advanced AI capabilities, he said.
“For example, more sophisticated machine learning algorithms can help analyze increasingly large datasets in shorter time frames,” Vinkarek said. “Or you can use AI to improve natural language processing to actually better serve your customers.”
In addition to the announced investments, Microsoft is also reportedly working on a larger in-house AI model than the open source models it has already trained.
