Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced on Tuesday that the company will invest $3 billion (about Rs25,700 crore) to strengthen its cloud computing and artificial intelligence capabilities in India.
The IT behemoth will also train 10 million individuals in AI skills in India by 2030, Nadella stated at a conference attended by startup founders and executives from technology enterprises.
Nadella is the latest in a line of IT titans to visit India, a country of 1.4 billion people that is developing as an AI battleground.
Nvidia's Jensen Huang, AMD's Lia Su, and Meta's head AI scientist Yann LeCun have all recently visited India, which is home to millions of programmers and technology service companies such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro.
Nadella stated that the $3 billion investment in India would be the "single-largest expansion" undertaken in the country. "The diffusion rate of AI in India is exciting."
He did not, however, specify a time range for the spending.
Microsoft offers cloud computing services under the Azure brand. It has over 60 Azure regions, which include more than 300 data centers.
"In India, we are excited about all of our regions. We have Central India, South India, West India, and South Central India. We also have the capacity that we established with Jio. "We have a lot of regional expansion going on," Nadella added.
When Nadella last visited India in February 2024, he said that the business would train 2 million people in AI by 2025, with a concentration on smaller towns and rural areas.
On Monday, the Microsoft chairman met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
According to Nadella, the Prime Minister discussed his vision for the artificial intelligence mission, India stack, and the country's entrepreneurial objectives, among other topics.
He had tweeted a photo of the meeting on X, formerly Twitter, with the caption, "Excited to build on our commitment to making India AI-first".
Prime Minister Modi responded, stating that he is "glad to know about Microsoft's ambitious expansion and investment plans in India."
Nadella stated that after a few years, there will be discussion about the correlation between GDP development in any country and even at the firm level for their own growth based on efficiency levels derived from the amount of energy consumed each token and dollar.
"We're creating world-class AI infrastructure. "This is fantastic for systems when it comes to innovation," Nadella stated.
He stated that the corporation is expanding its regional operations in India.
"India is quickly becoming a pioneer in AI innovation, opening up new opportunities across the country. The investments in infrastructure and skilling announced today underline our commitment to make India an AI-first country, and will assist ensure that individuals and organizations across the country benefit broadly," Nadella stated.
He stated that Microsoft's ambition to empower every individual and organisation in India drives the corporation.
"To that end, it is critical to ensure that this country's human capital can continue to scale and capitalize on the enormous opportunity and potential that technology provides. That's why we're delighted to announce today our long-standing commitment to training 10 million people in AI skills by 2030," Nadella remarked.
Microsoft has been investing billions of dollars in growing its AI infrastructure and data center network around the world. It announced last week intentions to invest over $ 80 billion in AI data centres this year.
During his most recent visit, the Microsoft chairman emphasized the importance of India's developer community in developing cutting-edge products and solutions that address national challenges and can be implemented globally.
He then announced Microsoft's new skilling investment in India, which aims to empower individuals and businesses to succeed in the AI future. The investment would allow Microsoft to provide 2 million people in India with AI skilling opportunities by 2025 through its Advanta(I)ge India project.
Nadella also announced the expansion of the Code Without Barriers program to India in 2024, with the goal of training and certifying 75,000 women coders.
