Microsoft plans to invest $3.2 billion in Swedish cloud and AI

Microsoft is investing billions of dollars in expanding cloud and AI infrastructure in Sweden, including data centres and GPU deployment, to meet the rising demand for generative AI and promote AI adoption in the Nordic region.

Microsoft announced on Monday that it would spend 33.7 billion Swedish crowns ($3.2 billion) over two years to expand its cloud and AI infrastructure in Sweden. As generative AI becomes more popular, more people want to use cloud services. This is why companies like Microsoft and Amazon Web Services are spending billions of dollars to build data centres in Europe.

In November, Microsoft put money into data centres in the UK. In February, they did the same thing in Germany and Spain. “There will be more announcements, most likely in the autumn,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a chat.

Microsoft is going to put 20,000 of the newest graphics processing units (GPUs) in its data centres in Sandviken, Gavle, and Staffanstorp in Sweden. These GPUs make computer calculations go faster.

According to Smith, the company will use faster processors from Nvidia, may also use chips from AMD, and finally, make some of its own. As people race to make generative AI programs, the need for high-tech chips that can handle these complex programs has grown.

Microsoft stated that it was committed to increasing AI adoption in the Nordic region, which includes Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Norway.

Sweden’s Ambitious AI and Renewable Energy Goals

Over the next three years, the company wants to teach 250,000 Swedes how to use AI in businesses, schools, universities, the public sector, and everyday life.

It is also investing in renewable energy, having purchased almost 1,000 MW of renewable energy in Sweden. Goldman Sachs thinks that the AI boom could be worth nearly $1 trillion as tech companies put money into data centres to train their big language models, which need a lot of power.

“AI represents a significant advancement in technology, serving as a catalyst or catalyst.” “It’s part of our plan for the future when, after successfully fighting inflation, we move on to a new phase, an investment phase,” Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said.