Microsoft to invest US$10bn in Japan for AI and cloud expansion
The move will expand domestic AI and cloud capacity, deepen cyber cooperation and help train one million developers and engineers by 2030.
- Microsoft will invest US$10 billion in Japan between 2026 and 2029 to expand the country's AI and cloud infrastructure.
- The investment will reinforce Microsoft's data centers and establish partnerships with local firms like SoftBank to allow for
Microsoft Corp. said on Friday (April 3) it will invest 10 billion dollars in Japan between 2026 and 2029 to beef up the country's artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure capacity so that important data can be kept under domestic management.
With its single largest financial commitment in the country, the US technology giant will also reinforce cybersecurity cooperation with the government sector and develop human resources in the AI field.
Under the investment program, Microsoft has teamed up with data centre developer SoftBank Corp. and cloud service provider Sakura Internet Inc. to build a system to allow users of the Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform in Japan to complete their data processing with the two Japanese partners' AI computing infrastructure. The US firm will reinforce its own data centres in the country as well.
In a related development, the same day, visiting Microsoft President Brad Smith met with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the prime minister's office in Tokyo to outline the investment plan.
"I'm delighted by one of the largest-ever investments in Japan," Takaichi was quoted as saying by an official with access to the meeting.
Speaking to reporters later, Smith expressed hope that his company would contribute to boosting Japan's national cybersecurity and Japanese workers' AI skills, as well as expanding AI and cloud capacity.
Microsoft aims to help strengthen the country's cyberdefense capabilities in cooperation with the National Police Agency and to foster one million AI developers and engineers by 2030 with Fujitsu Ltd., Hitachi Ltd., NEC Corp., NTT Data Japan Corp. and SoftBank. It also plans to provide AI skilling across the country.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
