Alice Chambers |
Microsoft will invest $3 billion in India’s cloud and AI infrastructure and skilling.
“India is rapidly becoming a leader in AI innovation, unlocking new opportunity across the country,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO of Microsoft. “The investments in infrastructure and skilling we are announcing today reaffirm our commitment to making India AI-first, and will help ensure people and organisations across the country benefit broadly.”
As part of the investment, Microsoft aims to train 10 million people by 2030 with AI skills to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of India becoming a developed nation by 2047. This goal builds on from Microsoft’s Advanta(i)ge India initiative, which aims to train two million people in AI skills by 2025.
“In the last 12 months Microsoft has been a copilot to making AI a reality in India, taking it from boardrooms to classrooms, commerce to communities, and finance to farmers,” said Puneet Chandok, president of Microsoft India and South Asia. “Today’s announcement strengthens our belief in India’s potential and our resolve to equip the country with the resources and future-ready skills needed to excel in the global marketplace. We will continue to use AI to unlock possibilities for the next few decades and ensure communities across the country have access to the compute they need to prosper in the AI era.”
Microsoft Research Lab also launched a new initiative – the AI Innovation Network – to accelerate the transition from research to real, usable business solutions. This will enable digital natives to access to Microsoft Research India’s research and expertise, and MSR will have the opportunity to deploy its research technologies in partnership with these companies.