AI Summit: Microsoft Says it is on Pace To Invest $50 Billion in 'Global South' AI Push

New Delhi: Technology leader Microsoft on Wednesday announced that it is on pace to invest $50 billion by the end of the decade to help bring AI to countries across the Global South. The announcement was made at the AI summit in New Delhi, where top executives from global AI giants meet several world leaders this week.

However, the company warned that AI adoption in the Global North is roughly twice that of the Global South and the gap is widening. “An urgent action is needed to prevent a growing AI divide from deepening global economic disparities,” said the tech giant’s vice chair and president Brad Smith and vice president and chief responsible AI officer Natasha Crampton.

While announcing the plan at the India AI Impact Summit, they said in a blog that the summit rightly has placed this challenge at the center of its agenda. “For more than a century, unequal access to electricity exacerbated a growing economic gap between the Global North and South. Unless we act with urgency, a growing AI divide will perpetuate this disparity in the century ahead,” they wrote.

According to Microsoft's latest AI Diffusion Report, uneven adoption of AI risks limiting economic growth and opportunity in developing regions. “This week in Delhi, we're sharing that Microsoft is on pace to invest $50 billion by the end of the decade to help bring AI to countries across the Global South,” they wrote.

The $50 billion pledge will be deployed through a five-part programme focused on infrastructure, skilling, multilingual AI development, local innovation and measurement of AI adoption. “The company invested more than $8 billion in data centre infrastructure serving the Global South in its last fiscal year, including in India, Mexico and countries across Africa, South America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East,” Microsoft said.

The company is also pursuing a goal to extend internet access to 250 million people in underserved communities, including 100 million in Africa. It said 117 million people across Africa have already been reached through partnerships, and it is nearing its global target.

The company also said that it is balancing digital sovereignty needs with commitments to cybersecurity, privacy and resilience, while supporting cross-border investment flows. “We invested more than $2 billion last fiscal year in cloud, AI and digital skilling programmes across the Global South, including grants, technology donations and discounted products,” the company said.