Microsoft invests $3.43 billion in Germany to expand AI and data centers

Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Microsoft announced Thursday it will invest $3.43 billion over the next two years to expand cloud data centers and AI infrastructure in Germany.

The funding -- Microsoft's largest investment in Germany to date -- will expand cloud services in Frankfurt and a new infrastructure in North Rhine-Westphalia, doubling those capacities over the next two years.

It will also help Germany meet growing AI demand and to "train and apply new AI models and services offered by Microsoft and a variety of other companies on the Microsoft Azure platform," the company said.

"We want to enable the German economy to benefit from AI in order to continue to expand its global leadership position in competitiveness," said Microsoft President and Vice Chair Brad Smith in a statement. "We see increasing demand for AI applications in key economic sectors such as manufacturing, automotive, financial services, pharmaceuticals, life sciences and medical technology."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed the investment in a post on X, saying that it showed "Germany is attractive."

Microsoft said will operate its AI services and infrastructure responsibly and sustainably by adopting best practices in accordance with a responsible AI standard it has adopted.

As the new German investment was announced Microsoft said it is committed to achieving 100% use of renewable energy globally, including at its data center operations, by 2025.

Microsoft said it will train more than 1.2 million people in Germany in digital skills by the end of 2025 as it significantly increases digital capacity to help Germany meet a growing demand for AI-specific computing power and cloud solutions.

Microsoft said the German investment in advanced IT infrastructure and AI platform services will enable German companies from small startups to big corporations to develop and deploy AI models as either proprietary or open source solutions.

Microsoft and OpenAI revealed Wednesday that they have disrupted five attempts by nation-state affiliated hacking groups to employ AI to improve their cyberattacks.

The company said while it hadn't seen particularly novel or unique AI-enabled attacks, these nation-state supported hacking groups and other cybercriminals are exploring and testing different AI technologies to strengthen their hacking efforts.

Microsoft said it is deeply committed to using AI tools to disrupt the hacking and to enhance hacking defense efforts everywhere.