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Microsoft’s CEO met with Indonesia’s president, promising a $1.7 billion investment in artificial intelligence and cloud computing to assist the island expand its AI infrastructure.
Satya Nadella spoke with President Joko Widodo, often known as Jokowi, in Jakarta’s presidential palace before giving a keynote speech about AI in the Indonesian capital on Tuesday.
“The thing I am really excited to announce today is the expanded announcement of data center investment, so $1.7 billion to bring the latest and greatest AI infrastructure to Indonesia,” Nadella told an audience, adding that data centers would be built in Indonesia soon.
“We are going to lead this wave in terms of the next generation of AI infrastructure that’s needed,” he went on to say.
“Our mission ultimately is to empower every person and every organization in Indonesia to take advantage of this next big AI wave.”
He stated that the tech giant would train hundreds of thousands of Indonesians in artificial intelligence.
“I’m very thrilled to announce that Microsoft will train 2.5 million people across ASEAN by 2025. In reality, there are 840,000 just in Indonesia alone,” he stated.
Indonesia is South-east Asia’s largest economy, with a population of over 280 million people spread across its vast archipelago, and there is a growing demand for data centres and AI technology in the region.
According to Minister of Communication and Informatics Budi Arie Setiadi, Nadella previously informed Jokowi that the tech giant would “invest significantly” in AI infrastructure and new cloud computing over the next four years.
According to Budi, the Microsoft CEO dubbed it the “single biggest investment value” in the company’s 29-year history in the country.
Microsoft has been handsomely rewarded by investors since it aggressively pursued generative AI, beginning with its $13 billion collaboration with OpenAI, the originator of ChatGPT, in 2023.
