Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith has announced that the company plans to invest around $80 billion in its current financial year, which ends in June, to build AI-enabled data centers. More than half of this investment will be allocated to the United States.
In a blog post, Smith detailed that the data centers will be used to train AI models and deploy AI and cloud-based applications globally.
Smith also expressed his support for U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, but he cautioned against imposing “heavy-handed regulations” that could hinder private sector progress. He emphasized, “The most important US public-policy priority should be to ensure that the US private sector can continue to advance with the wind at its back.”
Smith further explained that the U.S. requires a “pragmatic export control policy that balances strong security protection for AI components in trusted data centers with the ability for U.S. companies to expand rapidly and provide a reliable source of supply to the many countries that are American allies and friends.”
He stated that the U.S. is well-positioned to lead in AI development, thanks to its strong technology base and innovative private sector. “If the Trump Administration can develop a strong national AI talent strategy and use AI to make the government more effective and efficient, it will put the country on a promising path,” Smith added.
He believes that the U.S. is in a strong position to “win the essential race with China by advancing international adoption of American AI,” citing the trust in U.S. products and the private sector’s unmatched ability to invest globally.
