On October 5, 2023, in Athens, Greece, the Microsoft logo was displayed on the smartphone screen and the Amazon logo was displayed in the background.
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Microsoft and Amazon Billions of dollars are being poured into France.
Microsoft said in a statement on Monday that it had committed 4 billion euros ($4.3 billion) to expand its cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure in France, in addition to funding artificial intelligence skills and supporting the French technology industry.
The company said it plans to invest up to 25,000 state-of-the-art GPUs (graphics processing units) in France by the end of 2025.
The news was announced during the “Choose France” summit, which is dedicated to encouraging foreign investment in France.
“This significant investment demonstrates a strong commitment to supporting digital innovation and economic growth in France,” Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a statement on Monday.
“We are building state-of-the-art cloud and AI infrastructure, training people with AI skills, and supporting French startups to grow with confidence using our technology in a fair and responsible way.”
As part of the investment, Microsoft will also open a new data center in Mulhouse, France.
At the same time, Amazon itself has committed to investing 1.2 billion euros in France.
Amazon country manager Frederic Duval said the funding will be used to create more than 3,000 jobs in France and expand broadly, in addition to the 2,000 new jobs Amazon has already announced for 2024. Amazon’s footprint in France.
“The expansion of our logistics network supports local economies, creates quality jobs and allows us to reduce the carbon footprint of our deliveries while improving the overall customer experience,” Duvall said in a statement on Monday.
Microsoft and Amazon have committed a total of $5.6 billion to France. France reportedly secured a record €15 billion in investment commitments from foreign companies at the annual “Choose France” summit on Monday.
French President Emmanuel Macron has been working hard to promote France as an artificial intelligence center. Paris is already a major center for artificial intelligence research and development. Facebook One of its main artificial intelligence laboratories, FAIR, was established there in 2015.
Last year, at the VivaTech technology expo in Paris, Macron announced 500 million euros ($540 million) in new funding to create new artificial intelligence “champions,” building on previous commitments made by the government. include a promise Invest 1.5 billion euros in artificial intelligence by 2022.
Microsoft has launched its own charm offensive, pledging billions of euros to invest in France, as French officials express concern about the Redmond, Washington-based tech giant’s investment in artificial intelligence startup Mistral.
Microsoft recently invested €15 million in Mistral. The deal gives Microsoft a stake in Mistral, which adds its large-scale language models to the tech giant’s Azure cloud computing platform.
Microsoft dismissed competition concerns surrounding its investment in Mistral, saying the company remains independent and its partnership is a minority investment and commercial relationship, not a merger. The UK competition regulator is seeking feedback on the deal.
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