Microsoft to invest $3 billion in AI, cloud expansion in India

The tech giant will also train 10 million people in AI skills in India by 2030, says Microsoft's chief executive officer Satya Nadella

Microsoft will invest $3 billion (about Rs 25,700 crore) to expand its cloud computing and artificial intelligence capabilities in India, its chief executive officer Satya Nadella said on Tuesday.

The tech giant will also train 10 million people in AI skills in India by 2030, Nadella said, addressing a conference attended by startup founders and executives from technology firms here.

Nadella is the latest in the list of tech tycoons to have visited India - the nation of 1.4 billion people that is emerging as an AI battlefront.

Chip maker Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, AMD's Lia Su and Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun had in recent months visited India, home to millions of programmers and technology services providers like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro.

Nadella said the $3 billion investment in India would be the "single-largest expansion" done in the country. "The diffusion rate of AI in India is exciting."

He, however, did not give a time frame for the spending.

Microsoft provides its cloud computing services under the Azure brand name. It has over 60 Azure regions comprising more than 300 data centres.