Microsoft and France officially unveiled the biggest investment by the tech giant in the country during the Choose France summit, worth €4 Billion.

The investment looks to support technology adoption acceleration for cloud tech and artificial intelligence.

The investment will support French-made digital technologies, helping boost the nation's competitiveness and having long-term positive effects on the employment market and the French economy.

The investment aims to promote 2,500 AI firms and train one million workers by 2027. 

By making these investments, Microsoft is directly supporting France's National AI Strategy and advancing the country's leadership in creating and applying AI, which aligns with the most recent recommendations of the French Commission for Artificial Intelligence. 

Microsoft President and Vice Chair Brad Smith applauded the new investment, showing a strong commitment to fostering digital innovation and economic development in France.

Additionally, according to Smith, Microsoft will develop cutting-edge Cloud and AI infrastructure, cultivate people with AI skills, and assist French companies in confidently utilizing the company's technologies to expand in a just and ethical manner.

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Microsoft's Governing Principles

Microsoft's recently released AI Access Principles will govern the use of its Cloud and AI infrastructure in France. These guidelines reportedly promote creativity and healthy rivalry in the rapidly expanding AI sector.

These eleven overarching efforts, known as the AI Access principles, are part of Microsoft's effort to empower people and organizations worldwide to build and use AI assets—and AI in general—for society's benefit. 

Microsoft Investment Outline

First, by the end of 2025, Microsoft plans to invest €4 billion in building out its next-generation Cloud and AI infrastructure in France, bringing in up to 25,000 of the most cutting-edge GPUs.

In addition to investing in planning a new data center campus in the Grand Est Region at Mulhouse Alsace Agglomération, Microsoft plans to increase the size of its data center footprint at its current locations in the Paris and Marseille regions. 

Second, Microsoft is combining a fresh emphasis on skilling at scale with its investment in infrastructure. To help the nation enter the new AI era, it will support the skilling of one million individuals, emphasizing professional audiences, SMBs, job seekers, and students.

Microsoft and its partners, which include government agencies, companies that provide training services, nonprofits, universities, and higher education institutions, will introduce new training initiatives to foster safe and responsible AI development, advance AI business transformation, and foster AI fluency for all. 

The third point is that Microsoft has unveiled new plans to assist the French startup scene and support France's aspirations to create market-leading, rapidly expanding AI companies.

This pledge covers every region of France, guaranteeing a thorough and all-encompassing strategy.

With its new flagship initiative, Microsoft GenAI Studio, Microsoft intends to engage over 2,500 companies by 2027, setting the standard for accelerating AI businesses.

This program is built with a full suite of AI know-how, cloud credits, and support services, such as customer and partner collaboration.

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(Photo: Tech Times)