Microsoft is set to launch a $3.2 billion investment in the UK for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and training.
This is the company's largest investment in the UK since it began operating in the area 40 years ago.
.@Microsoft is committed as a company to ensuring that the UK as a country has world-leading technology. #AI infrastructure, easy access to the skills people need, and extensive protections for safety and security.https://t.co/qtTrjH9IS9
โBrad Smith (@BradSmi) November 30, 2023
Artificial intelligence infrastructure
Brad Smith, vice president and president of Microsoft, described investing in a company blog post. Smith said that in addition to the $3.2 billion cash chest, the company would give UK researchers and companies priority access to its Accelerating Foundation Models Research (AFMR) program:
"This infrastructure investment will help meet the growing demand for efficient, scalable and sustainable AI-specific computing power and the needs of the public and private sector hoping to take advantage of the latest advancements in cloud and AI."
Artificial intelligence training
Microsoft will also make a multibillion-dollar investment to โtrain one million people with the skills they need to develop and work with AI.โ
This includes initial training for unskilled workers hoping to enter the AI โโfield. According to Smith, "the program will focus on developing AI fluency, developing technical AI skills, supporting AI business transformation, and promoting the safe and responsible development and use of AI."
According to Smith, the training will include "the first Professional Certificate in Generative AI." It will also offer continuous and advanced training for industry professionals.
Future trainers will need to complete Microsoft's "Responsible Generative AI" training to ensure they "adhere to the ethics and principles of responsible development of AI solutions," Smith writes.
Related: ChatGPT's first year was marked by existential fear, lawsuits and boardroom drama
AI in the UK
The United Kingdom celebrated the news in a blog post from the Finance Minister's office. According to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, the UK leads Europe in artificial intelligence and its efforts in this field bring almost $4.7 billion to the bloc and employ more than 50,000 people.
Hunt described the investment as a โvote of confidenceโ for the UK:
"The UK is Europe's technology hub with an ecosystem worth more than Germany and France combined, and this investment is another vote of confidence in us as a scientific superpower."
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