Microsoft to Invest Record 10 B. Dlrs in Japan

Tokyo, April 3 (Jiji Press)--Microsoft Corp. said Friday it will invest 10 billion dollars in Japan between 2026 and 2029 to beef up the country's artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure capacity so important data can be kept under domestic management.

With its single largest financial commitment in the country, the U.S. technology giant will also reinforce cybersecurity cooperation with the government sector and develop human resources in the AI field.

Under the investment program, Microsoft has teamed up with data center developer SoftBank Corp. and cloud service provider Sakura Internet Inc. to build a system to allow users of the Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform in Japan to complete their data processing with the two Japanese partners' AI computing infrastructure. The U.S. firm will reinforce its own data centers in the country as well.

In a related development the same day, visiting Microsoft President Brad Smith met with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the prime minister's office in Tokyo to outline the investment plan.

"I'm delighted by one of the largest-ever investments in Japan," Takaichi was quoted as saying by an official with access to the meeting.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]