On Monday, Microsoft announced an investment of 33.7 billion kronor (3.2 billion dollars) over two years in cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence in Sweden, marking its biggest investment in the country.
The company stated that it will train 250,000 individuals by 2027 to enhance knowledge and proficiency in the field of artificial intelligence and to increase capacity in its three data centers in the country.
The President and CEO of Microsoft, Brad Smith, said at a press conference with Swedish Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven, that “Microsoft’s largest investment in our history in Sweden” will enable the Nordic country to “build world-class infrastructure for artificial intelligence data centers.”
Smith said:
“A significant part of the reason we can do this is Sweden’s advanced energy policy, and abundant access to green energy, whether it’s carbon-free or renewable energy.”
In recent months, the American company has announced similar investments in artificial intelligence in other countries, including France where it pledged to invest four billion euros (4.3 billion dollars), Japan where it announced a $2.9 billion AI initiative, as well as in Indonesia and Malaysia.
In Sweden, Microsoft will provide over 20,000 Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) necessary for training AI models and will increase the capacity of its data centers in the cities of Sandviken, Gävle, and Staffanstorp.
“Artificial intelligence is a driver for many things,” said Löfven. “It will also help accelerate development in other areas. This significant investment in Sweden has the potential to pave the way for other investments.”
Data centers, which process and store massive amounts of data, require significant amounts of electricity and water, consuming around two percent of global electricity consumption, according to a study by HEC Montreal Business School.
In 2020, Microsoft announced its aim to become “carbon negative” by 2030, but in 2023 its emissions increased by 30 percent, according to its data.
