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Microsoft announced Tuesday that it will invest $2.9 billion in Japan over the next two years to strengthen the country’s artificial intelligence efforts.
The announcement coincided with a visit to Washington by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, underscoring Tokyo’s determination to become an AI powerhouse.
Microsoft has grown to become a major player in the advancement of AI through its partnership with OpenAI, which developed ChatGPT, overtaking Apple to become the world’s largest company by market capitalization.
“This is the single largest investment in Microsoft’s 46-year history in Japan,” said Brad Smith, vice chairman and president of Microsoft. “These investments are essential for Japan to build a strong AI economy.”
Smith said the investment included providing “more advanced computing resources” such as powerful graphics processing units (GPUs), which are essential to running AI applications.
Microsoft also pledged to invest in training 3 million Japanese employees in AI skills over the next three years and announced the opening of the first Microsoft Research Asia Lab in Tokyo to work on AI and robotics.
With cybersecurity becoming increasingly important amid rising hacking and breaches, Microsoft also announced plans to work with the Japanese government to strengthen Japan’s cyber defenses.
“The cybersecurity threat landscape is becoming increasingly difficult… We’re seeing threats from China, especially Russia, but we’re also seeing an increase in ransomware activity around the world,” Smith said. told Nikkei News Media.
