Microsoft will invest $2.9 billion over the next two years in Japan to boost the country’s artificial intelligence (AI) development, which is currently lagging behind in this crucial technology sector. This commitment coincides with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s state visit to Washington on Wednesday, during which he underlined his country’s determination to become a major power in AI. Last year, Microsoft established itself as an AI player thanks to its partnership with OpenAI, the start-up that created the popular ChatGPT conversational agent, to the point of dethroning Apple as the largest company in the world by market capitalization.
“This is the largest investment Microsoft has made in Japan in its 46-year history,” Brad Smith, Microsoft president, said in a statement. The agreement includes the supply of “more advanced computing resources”, Smith specified, including ultra-sophisticated computer chips (GPUs), fundamental for training artificial intelligence models, and the strengthening of cloud infrastructure (storage dematerialized computing) of Microsoft in Japan. The US tech giant also pledged to invest in AI training for three million Japanese workers over the next three years and announced the opening of its first lab in Tokyo, Microsoft Research Asia, which will focus on AI and robotics.