The Tamesis
Microsoft announced plans to invest more than $1 billion in cloud and artificial intelligence data center infrastructure and operations in Thailand over the next two years.
The investment commitment follows a Tuesday meeting between Microsoft President Brad Smith and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.
“We aim to make Thailand a regional driver of Asia’s digital and artificial intelligence economy,” Charnvirakul said in a statement after the meeting.
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He called Microsoft’s statement a “clear expression of confidence in Thailand’s future.”
Microsoft said the investment will help advance three priorities for Thailand’s AI development, including building world-class infrastructure for Thai companies to use a “secure, sovereign and inclusive digital foundation” for the country, and providing AI skills training to Thai citizens.
“This investment is core to Microsoft’s plan to advance national growth, prosperity and global competitiveness through artificial intelligence,” the company said. a statement.
It is the second major investment in Thailand as technology giants compete to invest billions of dollars in Southeast Asia.
Google launched a new “cloud region” in Bangkok in January, saying its data centers will contribute more than $40 billion in economic value to Thailand over five years.
New data centers — warehouse-like facilities that store online files and support artificial intelligence tools from chatbots to image generators — are popping up around the world. But the industry is growing particularly fast in Asia.
Hyperconnected Singapore has long been a hotspot for data centers in Southeast Asia, but the city-state halted development between 2019 and 2022 due to energy, water and land use issues.
Coupled with the surge in interest in artificial intelligence following the debut of ChatGPT, the number of data centers has exploded in Malaysia, as well as in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
The growing access user base in the region has also translated into huge demand for artificial intelligence, making it increasingly necessary for technology giants to establish data centers in Southeast Asia.
- Vishakha Saxena Additional Editor AFP
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