On April 10th, Microsoft announced its plan to invest $2.9 billion in cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure in Japan over the next two years, marking the latest move by a major U.S. tech company to support AI development through overseas expansion.
This investment represents Microsoft's largest single investment in Japan in its 46-year history of operations there. The aim is to provide AI skills training for three million people and establish a new laboratory at the Microsoft Asia Research Institute in Tokyo.
With the launch of ChatGPT at the end of 2022, global server operators are expanding their data centers and cloud computing capabilities to support the rapid growth of AI applications and related workloads.
Currently, Microsoft Azure, Alphabet's Google Cloud, and Amazon Web Services rank as the top three cloud computing companies globally. Amazon Web Services plans to invest $10 billion in Mississippi, USA, and $5.3 billion in Saudi Arabia to establish data centers. Google, on the other hand, is investing $1 billion to build data centers in the outskirts of London, UK.
Meanwhile, South Korean President Yun Suk-yeol announced on Tuesday that by 2027, South Korea will invest 94 trillion won (approximately $69.4 billion) in the field of artificial intelligence to maintain its global leadership position in advanced semiconductor chips.
This investment also includes a separate fund totaling 14 trillion won aimed at nurturing AI chip companies. Against the backdrop of countries like China, the United States, and Japan ramping up efforts to strengthen their domestic chip supply chains, South Korea is also striving to maintain competitiveness.
Semiconductors are at the core of South Korea's export-oriented economy. In March of this year, South Korea's semiconductor exports reached $11.7 billion, the highest level in 21 months, accounting for nearly one-fifth of the country's total exports.
The South Korean government stated its plan to significantly boost the development of AI chips such as specialized investments and funds for the development of artificial neural processing units and next-generation high-bandwidth storage chips.
South Korea will also advance the development of next-generation AI and security technologies surpassing existing ones.
Yun Suk-yeol's goal is for South Korea to be among the top three globally in chips and other AI technologies by 2030, and to have over 10% market share in the global system-on-chip market.
Yun Suk-yeol stated, "Just as we have led in the field of storage chips for the past 30 years, we will create new semiconductor legends with AI chips in the next 30 years."
