Microsoft has announced plans to invest $1.7 billion in artificial intelligence and cloud services in Indonesia.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced plans to train 840,000 Indonesians in AI and support the country’s growing ranks of tech developers.
Microsoft’s announcement represents the company’s largest investment in Southeast Asia in nearly three decades.
Nadella met with President Joko Widodo, also known as Jokowi, on Tuesday at Jakarta’s presidential palace. He then gave a keynote speech about AI in the capital of Indonesia.
In Indonesia, Nadella said, “This new generation of AI is changing how people live and work everywhere.” This was the first stop on his tour of Southeast Asia.
“The investments we are announcing today spanning digital infrastructure, skilling, and support for developers will help Indonesia thrive in this new era,” the prime minister said.
Nadella said that Microsoft’s investment would “bring Indonesia the latest and best AI infrastructure.”
He said, “We’re going to lead this wave in terms of the needed AI infrastructure.”
Indonesia, with a population of approximately 280 million people, has Southeast Asia’s largest economy and the region’s third-largest developer community, trailing only China and India.
According to a 2020 study by global consulting firm Kearney, AI could add nearly $1 trillion to Southeast Asia’s GDP by 2030, with Indonesia accounting for $366 billion of that increase.
Last month, Apple CEO Tim Cook met with Widodo and President-elect Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta. Cook said he would “look at” manufacturing in the country.
Microsoft is looking to boost global support for AI development around the world, and last month they announced that they would be investing multibillion dollars in cloud and AI infrastructure in Japan and the UAE-based AI company G42.
