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Key Takeaways

• Microsoft is slated to spend $80 billion on data centers needed to train and run artificial intelligence by the end of the fiscal year, president Brad Smith said Friday in a blog post.

• More than half of the investment will occur domestically, Smith said.

• Besides private investment in AI, support from the public sector is important, Smith said.

• He said government regulations on the technology will play an important role in supporting American firms in other countries.
  

Microsoft (MSFT) expects to spend about $80 billion on data centers that fuel artificial intelligence in the current fiscal year, president Brad Smith wrote in a blog post that also urged incoming President Donald Trump to invest in “a golden opportunity” for the domestic economy.

Smith said the U.S. is at the helm of a “world-changing” technology boom thanks to tech companies, chip suppliers and software developers collaborating on AI. Microsoft will keep the momentum going by investing more than half of the $80 billion set aside for data centers within the U.S., Smith said.

The announcement comes as American tech companies pour trillions into the data centers that AI relies on, and seek out nuclear energy to power them.

"Today, the United States leads the global AI race thanks to the investment of private capital and innovations by American companies of all sizes, from dynamic start-ups to well-established enterprises," Smith said.

But the country can best capitalize on the nascent technology if the government, education system and non-profit sector also help usher in the AI era, Smith said. He urged the Trump Administration to increase the amount of AI research funding available, and to develop a national “talent strategy” to train Americans on the technology.

Smith also asked the administration to consider how AI regulations could affect American companies' prospects abroad as competition with rival companies in China ratchets up.

“The most important U.S. public policy priority should be to ensure that the U.S. private sector can continue to advance with the wind at its back,” Smith said. “The United States cannot afford to slow its own private sector with heavy-handed regulations.”

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