Microsoft Corp CEO Satya Nadella pledged a US$1.7 billion investment in artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing to help develop Indonesia’s AI infrastructure after a meeting with the country’s president yesterday.
Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s biggest economy and has a population of about 280 million across its sprawling archipelago, with a growing demand for data centers and AI tech in the region.
Nadella held talks with Indonesian President Joko Widodo at Jakarta’s presidential palace before delivering a keynote speech about AI in the Indonesian capital.
Photo: Bloomberg
“The thing I am really excited to announce today is the expanded announcement of data center investment, so US$1.7 billion to bring the latest and greatest AI infrastructure to Indonesia,” Nadella told the crowd, adding that data centers would soon be built in Indonesia.
“We are going to lead this wave in terms of the next generation of AI infrastructure that’s needed,” he said. “Our mission ultimately is to empower every person and every organization in Indonesia to take advantage of this next big AI wave.”
The tech giant would provide AI training for hundreds of thousands of Indonesians, Nadella said.
“I’m very pleased to announce that we at Microsoft are going to train 2.5 million people by 2025 across the ASEAN region. In fact, 840,000 right here in Indonesia alone,” he said.
The investment would be over four years, Microsoft said in a statement.
Microsoft Indonesia president director Dharma Simorangkir said that the investment “sets a new milestone for Indonesia’s digital landscape.”
Nadella earlier told Widodo that the tech giant’s pledge was the “single biggest investment value” in the 29-year history of its business in Indonesia, Indonesian Minister of Communication and Informatics Budi Arie Setiadi said in a statement.
Research by global consulting firm A.T. Kearney showed that AI is poised to contribute US$1 trillion to Southeast Asia’s GDP by 2030, with Indonesia predicted to see more than one-third of that, the statement said.
Jakarta is lobbying Microsoft to open a research and development center in Indonesia, including in the planned new capital Nusantara that is due to open from August, Budi told reporters.
“We offered several places: Bali, IKN [Nusantara],” he said.
Nadella’s visit comes just weeks after Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook met Widodo and Indonesian president-elect Prabowo Subianto as the tech giant explores ways to diversify supply chains away from China.
Cook said that Apple is looking at potentially investing in manufacturing in Indonesia.
Nadella is traveling to Thailand and then Malaysia this week to promote Microsoft’s AI tech.
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