Microsoft splurges $1.7 billion in AI investment in Indonesia, joining UAE, UK, Japan & more

Microsoft announced a massive investment of $1.7 billion in Indonesia. The Southeast Asian country, which is home to over 270 million people, will see the investment being spread over four years. And it’s the biggest amount that the Redmond company has spent in its almost three decades of operation in the country.

“The investments we are announcing today – spanning digital infrastructure, skilling, and support for developers – will help Indonesia thrive in this new era,” Microsoft boss Satya Nadella said.

Indonesia, according to Kearney’s research, expects to reap $566 billion in GDP by 2030, to which AI could potentially contribute.

The investment then will focus on new cloud and AI infrastructure, an AI skilling initiative for 840,000 workers, and support for the country’s developer community—a part of the government’s ongoing Golden Indonesia 2045 Vision initiatives. 

And it’s not the first or only monetary investment from Microsoft in Asia. Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that it’s investing $2.9 billion in AI & cloud in Japan, as well as training for over 3 million people and a research lab in Tokyo. 

Later on, Microsoft said that it was investing $1.5 billion in the United Arab Emirates. The Redmond tech giant will spread the investment through G42, the Emirati AI company with a focus on AI research, big data, and machine learning. 

Microsoft also has a strong presence in Europe. The company has announced investments of $2.1 billion in Spain’s AI and cloud infrastructure, and then another €3.2 billion in Germany and £2.5 billion in the UK.