Microsoft plans to speed up AI within the Nordics, commits $3.2B to Sweden

Microsoft plans to speculate $3.2bn (€2.9bn) to increase its AI and cloud infrastructure in Sweden, marking the corporate’s greatest single funding within the Nordic nation.

The initiative goals to assist increase Sweden’s competitiveness within the burgeoning synthetic intelligence sector.

As a part of this aim, Microsoft will deploy 20,000 of essentially the most superior GPUs — wanted for AI coaching — to its three present knowledge centres positioned in Sandviken, Gävle, and Staffanstorp.

The tech large will use Nvidia’s chips. It is usually contemplating utilizing chips from AMD alongside its personal semiconductors, Microsoft’s President Brad Smith said in an interview.

Over the subsequent three years, the corporate may even present AI expertise coaching to 250,000 folks at colleges, universities, organisations, and within the public sector. That’s equal to roughly 2.4% of your complete Swedish inhabitants.

The programme will give attention to technical and vocational training for college students, retraining for industry-specific professions, and skilled coaching for builders. In response to this yr’s AI Index Report from Stanford College, Sweden ranks third globally within the demand for AI expertise.

“Microsoft is dedicated to growing accessibility and accelerating the introduction of AI all through the Nordics, together with Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden,” Smith mentioned in a press release.

AI use is quickly increasing within the Nordic international locations. However based on a recent report by Danish assume tank Mandag Morgen, Sweden is lagging behind. Roughly 45% of Swedish companies and organisations at present use AI, in comparison with 48% in Denmark, 52% in Norway, and 61% in Finland.