President Biden made a trip to the swing state of Wisconsin on Wednesday with two goals.
First, he was there to formally unveil a new $3.3 billion investment by Microsoft in artificial intelligence in the state. But a second clear priority was to highlight the failure of one of Donald Trump’s biggest jobs promises from his time in office.
Microsoft’s (MSFT) forthcoming AI data center — as Biden was more than happy to point out repeatedly — is being built on land that was cleared during the Trump administration for a planned $10 billion Foxconn investment. The land was then abandoned when the Foxconn project was scaled way back.
Trump talked a lot about infrastructure and jobs but "didn’t build a damn thing," Biden said as he took the stage Wednesday afternoon, adding: "Foxconn turned out to be just that, a con."
"On my watch, we make promises and we keep promises," he added later, just in case anyone missed the message.
Biden spoke at Gateway Technical College in Sturtevant, Wisc., in the afternoon before heading to campaign events elsewhere in Wisconsin and Chicago.
Wednesday’s speech also offered some insights into Biden’s potential approach to the key issue of AI in the years ahead.
"We are going to build something special," Microsoft president Brad Smith said before Biden took the stage.
He added what was perhaps a dig at Foxconn, saying, "One thing that I’ve always felt is so important about the work we are doing here is to underpromise, overdeliver, and work with the community."
Smith said Biden’s policies — notably the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the CHIPs and Science Act — helped make the company’s Wisconsin investment possible.
Microsoft is promising to create a variety of jobs across the state and also train 100,000 Wisconsin residents for future jobs in AI as part of their overall efforts.
'The Eighth Wonder of the World'
The land for the data center is available because it was initially cleared and set aside for Foxconn.
Trump traveled to the region in 2018. "This is just the beginning," he said in that speech, calling the plant "the Eighth Wonder of the World."
But it wasn’t to be, with Foxconn scaling back severely in the years that followed. It still has a presence in the state but is now set to spend only $672 million in the region by 2026.
Biden seized on the contrast — and repeated Trump's comments — in a message he’s likely to return to often between now and November to make the case that his approach to the economy is better than Trump's even as polls show voters are more inclined to the former president.
A Yahoo News/YouGov survey last month found Biden with just a 37% approval rating on the economy, largely in line with other polls throughout 2024.
What Biden and his allies are hoping is that examples like the Foxconn and Microsoft contrast can change some perceptions about how much Biden has helped local communities, especially in swing states.
"My Investing in America agenda is fueling a historic boom," Biden claimed Wednesday, saying the investment would be transformative for Wisconsin.
"Today is another example of private sector optimism," he added.
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley responded to Biden's stop to Yahoo Finance charging that "Joe Biden is trying to save face in Racine County as Wisconsinites feel the pain of Bidenomics" adding that other factors like increasing prices and struggling farmers are evidence that "his policies have failed and people want President Trump back in office."
A still-in-progress response to AI
The focus on AI also comes as President Biden and other Washington policymakers continue to wrestle with their response to the fast-moving technology.
A White House executive order on AI last year was Biden’s most concrete step on the issue so far.
It laid out dual goals of putting in place new safety standards to protect Americans from potential downsides while also trying to maximize economic benefits from the technology.
Capitol Hill lawmakers have also convened a series of listening sessions called AI Insight Forums over the last year as they debate legislation. At one such session, Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk suggested that action was needed, even "perhaps a Department of AI."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer organized those listening sessions and also visited an expo on artificial intelligence this week in between votes on Capitol Hill.
He took time Wednesday to tout the news out of Wisconsin, saying Microsoft’s investment "will create thousands of new, good-paying jobs and help America keep a competitive edge on AI."
This post has been updated.
Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
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