Microsoft invests $10 billion in AI data centers in Japan
Kyiv • UNN
The company will expand its technological infrastructure and train one million engineers. The project will be implemented over four years together with SoftBank and NTT.
Microsoft announced on Friday that it will invest $10 billion in Japan over the next four years to build data centers for artificial intelligence and related infrastructure, UNN reports with reference to AFP.
Details
Energy-intensive data centers — warehouse-like complexes that power AI tools, from chatbots to image generators — are popping up all over the world, and the sector is growing particularly fast in Asia.
On Friday, Microsoft President Brad Smith met with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at her office to announce the investment.
In his statement, Smith noted that this is "a response to Japan's growing need for cloud and AI services."
Businesses in Japan, the world's fourth-largest economy, are striving to take a leading position in the rapidly developing field of AI.
However, the expansion of data centers there is limited by a shortage of space and relatively high electricity costs.
The American technology giant will cooperate with Japan's SoftBank Group and Sakura Internet to expand domestic technological infrastructure, according to a press release.
This follows a two-year, $2.9 billion investment that Microsoft announced in 2024 to strengthen the country's AI advancement and bolster its cyber defenses.
The investments announced on Friday also include funds to strengthen cybersecurity partnerships with Japanese government agencies and to train one million engineers in cooperation with telecommunications and technology giants NTT and NEC.
The rapid construction of data centers in the Asia-Pacific region, especially in India and Southeast Asia, has raised concerns about the environmental impact of these facilities.
This includes increased strain on power grids, which often rely on fossil fuels, and on local water sources used to cool the heating servers inside.
Microsoft states its commitment to becoming a carbon-negative, zero-waste, and "water-positive" company by 2030.
On Tuesday, the company announced plans to invest more than $1 billion in infrastructure and data center operations for cloud computing and artificial intelligence in Thailand over the next two years.