STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Microsoft will invest 33.7 billion Swedish crowns ($3.21 billion) to expand its cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure in Sweden over a two-year period, the U.S. tech group said on Monday.
The investment, Microsoft’s biggest to date in Sweden, includes a pledge to help train some 250,000 people with AI skills, corresponding to 2.4% of the population that will help boost the Nordic country’s competitiveness, it added.
“This announcement goes beyond technology, it’s a commitment to ensuring broad access to the tools and skills needed for Sweden’s people and economy to thrive in the AI era,” Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith said in a statement.
As part of its investment, the company said it plans to deploy 20,000 of the most advanced graphics processing units (GPU), which speed up computer calculations, at its Swedish data centre sites in Sandviken, Gavle and Staffanstorp.
Smith was due to meet with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Stockholm on Monday.
Microsoft said it was committed to boosting AI adoption across the Nordic region which in addition to Sweden includes Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway.
($1 = 10.5137 Swedish crowns)
(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee, writing by Terje Solsvik, editing by Stine Jacobsen)
