AI Hardware

Microsoft to make $4.8 bln AI, cloud investment in Italy

Microsoft plans to invest 4.3 billion euros ($4.8 billion) over the next two years to strengthen its artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud infrastructure in northern Italy.

By Priya Khosla October 3, 2024

Source: Reuters

Microsoft said in a statement the investment would be the U.S. company's largest in Italy to date. It will make the cloud region northern Italy one of the biggest Microsoft data centres in Europe, working as a data hub also for the Mediterranean and north Africa.

Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith met Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome on Wednesday, the PM's office said in a note, adding the government welcomed an investment that would strengthen Italy's digital role in the Mediterranean.

BlackRock and Microsoft announced last month a fund worth more than $30 billion to invest in AI-focused data centres, AI supply chains and energy sourcing, saying the vehicle would first look at the U.S. market and then at U.S. partner countries.

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