Microsoft to Invest $3.2 Billion in the UK AI Industry
Summary
On November 30, 2023, Microsoft and the U.K. announced a three-year investment into the U.K.’s AI industry, totaling $3.2 billion. Characterized as the “single largest investment in its 40-year history in the country,” the bulk of Microsoft’s spending will focus on growing its U.K. data center footprint and “training more than one million people for the AI economy.” The company also plans to “support[] the UK’s growing AI safety and research efforts through partnerships with the government and leading universities.” In the announcement, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made a reference to the AI Safety Summit and said, the “UK started the global conversation on AI earlier this month, and Microsoft’s historic investment is further evidence of the leading role we continue to play in expanding the frontiers of AI to harness it’s economic and scientific benefits.”
