Microsoft to Invest $1.7 Billion in AI Infrastructure in Indonesia
By Kimberley Kao
Microsoft will invest $1.7 billion in cloud and artificial-intelligence infrastructure in Indonesia over the next four years, ahead of an expected boom in demand for AI computing in the world's fourth most populous country.
The U.S. tech giant said Tuesday after a meeting between Chief Executive Satya Nadella and Indonesian President Joko Widodo that the investment will build on plans to build the company's first data center region in Indonesia and mark its single biggest investment in Southeast Asia's largest economy.
Microsoft said the investment would help meet growing demand for cloud computing services in Indonesia and help its goal of training 2.5 million people across the region in AI skills.
The company said more than 3.1 million developers in Indonesia use GitHub, its software development and collaboration platform, making the country its biggest user base in the Asia Pacific after India and China. The number of public generative AI projects on the platform in Indonesia tripled in 2023, it said.
Microsoft, which competes in the cloud and data center space in fast-growing Southeast Asia with the likes of Alphabet, Amazon and Alibaba, has been ramping up its cloud services amid an expected boom in AI computing demand. The company said last week that its Azure cloud business grew 31% on year in the first quarter, with 7 percentage points of the growth coming from its AI services, helping to fuel 17% growth in the company's topline.
Spending on data centers and other infrastructure to host rising demand took the company's capital expenditures to $14 billion in the first quarter, up from $11.5 billion in the preceding quarter. Microsoft's cloud business hosts ChatGPT, software made by startups like Mistral and Cohere, and models made by tech giants including Meta.
Nadella is currently on the first leg of a trip to Southeast Asia, and is scheduled to meet with the leaders of Malaysia and Thailand in the coming days.
Write to Kimberley Kao at kimberley.kao@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 30, 2024 00:53 ET (04:53 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.-
How Anti-Obesity Drugs Are Innovating the Healthcare Market
-
What’s Happening In the Markets This Week
-
Why Immigration Has Boosted Job Gains and the Economy
-
What to Invest in During High Inflation
-
Never Mind Market Efficiency: Are the Markets Sensible?
-
Starbucks Stock Could Use a Pick-Me-Up After Big Selloff; Is it a Buy?
-
5 Cheap Stocks to Buy From an Attractive Part of the Market
-
Markets Brief: All Eyes On Inflation
-
After Earnings, Is Lyft Stock a Buy, a Sell, or Fairly Valued?
-
8 Stock Picks in the Apparel Industry
-
Baidu Earnings: Advertising Weakness Offset by Continued Growth In Cloud Business
-
Going Into Earnings, Is Target Stock a Buy, a Sell, or Fairly Valued?
-
Walmart Earnings: Low Prices and Strong Digital Presence Drive Market Share Gains
-
After Earnings and a Big Selloff, Is Shopify Stock a Buy, a Sell, or Fairly Valued?
-
Cisco Earnings: Positive Guidance and Splunk Inclusion Align With Our Long-Term Thesis
-
3 Warren Buffett Stocks to Buy After Berkshire Hathaway’s Just-Released 13F Filing