Microsoft to Invest $3.3 Billion in US AI Data Center

Microsoft plans to invest $3.3 billion in a domestic AI data center on the same ground as a failed attempt by Foxconn to set up an LCD-screen plant. The data center in Wisconsin is expected to create 2,300 buildings and 2,000 permanent jobs.

The company said it will also provide skilling opportunities for thousands of residents, detailing plans to partner with a technical college in Wisconsin to develop a data center academy to train 1,000 people in data center and STEM roles by 2030. The software giant will also build a joint innovation laboratory in the state and team with a start-up accelerator to train 1,000 business leaders to employ AI in their operations.

In 2017, the administration of former President Donald Trump announced a $10 billion investment by Foxconn it stated would create 13,000 manufacturing jobs at the site. “But after 100 homes and farms were bulldozed to make way for the manufacturing plant and over $500 million in taxpayer dollars were invested to prepare the site, no such investment materialized,” President Biden’s administration stated. “Foxconn abandoned plans to manufacture LCD screens in the state and created only a fraction of the promised jobs,” the administration added.