Software giant Microsoft has set sights on investing US$80 billion in
artificial intelligence (AI) data centres this year.
This was revealed by Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft, last week in a blog post.
“In FY 2025, Microsoft is on track to invest approximately $80 billion to build out AI-enabled data centres to train AI models and deploy AI and cloud-based applications around the world,” says Smith.
He adds that more than half of this total investment will be in the US.
The announcement comes as technology giants such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta are racing to make significant investments in AI.
Over the years, Microsoft has made significant investments in ChatGPT maker OpenAI, forming a strategic partnership that has profoundly impacted the development of AI technologies and their integration into Microsoft’s products and services.
In 2019, Microsoft invested US$1 billion in OpenAI to support the development of artificial general intelligence and integrate OpenAI’s technologies into Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform.
In early 2023, Microsoft confirmed a multi-year, multi-billion-dollar investment (reportedly around US$10 billion). This investment aimed to scale OpenAI’s research and commercial endeavours while making AI tools more accessible.
“As we look into the future, it’s clear that artificial intelligence is poised to become a world-changing GPT,” says Smith.
“AI promises to drive innovation and boost productivity in every sector of the economy. The United States is poised to stand at the forefront of this new technology wave, especially if it doubles down on its strengths and effectively partners internationally.”
According to Smith, America’s technological strength has always been rooted in the private sector. He notes that today, the US leads the global AI race thanks to the investment of private capital and innovations by American companies of all sizes, from dynamic start-ups to well-established enterprises.
“At Microsoft, we’ve seen this firsthand through our partnership with OpenAI, from rising firms such as Anthropic and xAI, and our own AI-enabled software platforms and applications. Across the nation, a new generation of AI firms is emerging, each capitalising on rapid advances in AI models and chips, moving to graphics processing units and AI accelerator chips. And across the economy, software programs are being redesigned to operate as AI-enabled applications,” Smith says.
“None of this progress would be possible without new partnerships founded on large-scale infrastructure investments that serve as the essential foundation of AI innovation and use.”
