Microsoft: 50 billion US dollars for AI expansion in the Global South

US technology group Microsoft has announced that it will invest 50 billion US dollars by the end of this decade in expanding infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI), qualifying specialists, and innovations in countries of the Global South. The announcement was made at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, where leaders of global tech corporations are discussing the future of AI with policymakers this week.

At the same time, Brad Smith, President of Microsoft, and Natasha Crampton, Chief Responsible AI Officer of Microsoft, expressed concern in a blog post outlining the plans, about the growing divide in AI between so-called industrialized and developing countries. "Artificial intelligence is spreading at an impressive speed, but its adoption worldwide is still very uneven," they write. "We must act urgently to overcome the growing AI divide."

Uneven spread of AI

According to a recent Microsoft report (PDF), the use of AI in the Global North is about twice as high as in the Global South. The "Global South" refers to developing countries, emerging economies, or lower-income countries located predominantly in the Southern Hemisphere. And the gap is widening. "This inequality not only affects national and regional economic growth, but also whether AI can fulfill its general promise of fostering opportunities and prosperity worldwide," say Smith and Crampton.

With a historical comparison, the Microsoft leaders urge solutions: "For more than a century, unequal access to electricity has exacerbated the growing economic divide between the Global North and South. If we do not act urgently, a growing AI divide will further amplify this inequality in the coming century." Microsoft, as a company, is committed to taking "an ambitious and constructive role" in spreading AI in the Global South. By the end of the decade, it intends to invest 50 billion US dollars for this purpose, according to the announcement.

Five-point program to promote the impact of AI

The five-part program focuses on building AI infrastructure, expanding training, strengthening multilingual and multicultural capabilities, fostering local innovation, and measuring AI diffusion as a basis for future AI strategies and investments.

In the last fiscal year alone, Microsoft invested well over eight billion US dollars in data center infrastructure in the Global South, including in India, Mexico, Africa, South America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, according to the company. In addition, the company announced AI investments of 17.5 billion US dollars in India, one of the world's fastest-growing digital markets. Earlier this year, Smith warned of China's dominance in emerging markets and called for investments from international development banks in the Financial Times.

(akn)