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The investment is Microsoft’s largest-ever commitment to Sweden
Microsoft has announced today that it will invest 33.7 billion Swedish crowns ($3.21 billion) to expand its cloud and AI operations in Sweden over the next two years. This will include the deployment of 20,000 advanced graphics processing units (GPUs) at its data centers in Sandviken, Gavle, and Staffanstorp to help meet the rapidly growing compute demand created by AI.
Alongside this infrastructure deployment, the company plans to train 250,000 people – approximately 2.4% of Sweden’s population– in AI skills to help improve the country’s competitiveness in this domain.
“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. The company explained to Reuters that it is committed to increasing the adoption of AI in the Nordic region.
Microsoft has been rapidly expanding its AI infrastructure deployments across the world, having announced billion-dollar investments in the UK, Germany, Spain, Japan, and more in recent months. These investments are driven by a boom in demand for new services related to generative AI, with further growth expected that would make existing data centre infrastructure inadequate.
“You will see some other announcements, probably more in the fall,” said Microsoft CEO Brad Smith.
According to Goldman Sachs, the AI boom will be a “near-$1 trillion opportunity” for the tech sector.
“AI is a tech transformation that should be seen as a multiplier or catalyst … It is part of the strategy going forward when, after successfully fighting inflation, we enter a new phase, an investment phase,” said Ulf Kristersson, Prime Minister of Sweden in a statement.
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