After announcing an investment of 1.6 billion euros in Indonesia, Microsoft on Thursday committed to investing 2.05 billion euros in Malaysia in artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud to help develop the country’s AI infrastructure.
“Today, Microsoft announced that it will invest $2.2 billion (€2.05 billion) over the next four years to support Malaysia’s digital transformation – the largest investment ever of its 32 years of presence in the country”, indicates the group in its press release published while the general director of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, gave a speech in Kuala Lumpur.
Mr. Nadella, who is traveling to several countries in Southeast Asia, announced on Tuesday another investment of 1.7 billion dollars (around 1.6 billion euros) in Indonesia in artificial intelligence and “cloud computing”, after meeting Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
He also announced on Wednesday the creation in Thailand of an infrastructure intended to boost the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing.
The investment in Malaysia will help build AI and cloud infrastructure in the country, creating an AI center of excellence and providing AI training to up to 200,000 Malaysians, the Microsoft boss said.
“We are committed to supporting the AI transformation in Malaysia and ensuring that it benefits all Malaysians,” Mr Nadella said in the statement.
“We really want to make sure that we have world-class infrastructure in the country so that every organization, every software developer, every startup can use it not only to build for this country, but for the world and the region,” he said in his speech.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim welcomed the commitment, calling it a demonstration of confidence in the country’s “investor-friendly environment and political stability.”
“These investments (…) will constitute a major pillar of the government’s focus on developing AI capabilities in the country,” he reacted on his Facebook page.
Contribution of 1,000 billion dollars to GDP
Artificial intelligence is expected to contribute $1 trillion to Southeast Asia’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030, with Malaysia forecasting it will receive more by a tenth, according to a study by the international consulting firm Kearney cited in the press release.
“Microsoft’s development of critical cloud and AI infrastructure, as well as AI training opportunities, will significantly enhance Malaysia’s digital capability,” Malaysian Commerce Minister Zafrul Abdul Aziz said in the statement .
Microsoft began operations in Malaysia in 1992, according to its official website, and employs more than 200 people in its offices in Kuala Lumpur and Penang state.
Microsoft, which achieved even better results than expected at the start of the year, has announced billions of dollars of investments in artificial intelligence (AI) abroad in recent months, the price to pay to remain the one of the most important players in this crucial market.
Since February, the company created in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen has revealed investments in AI of 3.4 billion dollars in Germany, 2.1 billion in Spain and 2.9 billion in Japan, over two years.
Microsoft has been praised by investors since it actively pushed the deployment of generative AI, starting with its $13 billion partnership with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, in 2023.
Mr Nadella said last week that sales between January and March rose 17% from a year earlier to $61.9 billion (€57.8 billion), with net profit in increase of 20% to 21.9 billion dollars (20.4 billion euros).
AI adoption has boosted sales of its key cloud services such as Azure, which have become the core of Microsoft’s business under Nadella’s leadership.
