Highlights:

  • Wisconsin’s plan focuses on investing in cloud computing and AI infrastructure, as well as developing what Microsoft refers to as the United States’ “first manufacturing-focused AI co-innovation lab.”
  • The investment for Microsoft’s AI Data Center commences immediately and is anticipated to conclude by 2026. Microsoft announced that approximately 2,300 construction workers will be hired around 2025 to construct the “state-of-the-art” data center campus in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.

Microsoft Corp. has recently unveiled an investment package amounting to USD 3.3 billion in Southeast Wisconsin. This encompasses the intention to establish Microsoft’s AI Data Center at the site where Foxconn Technology Group’s USD 10 billion manufacturing plant project did not come to fruition.

The data center in Wisconsin is part of a series of substantial investments in AI that Microsoft, headquartered in Seattle, has pledged to undertake on a global scale.
From countries across Southeast Asia to the aspiration of establishing London as an AI hub, Microsoft is investing billions of dollars, potentially generating tens of thousands of new jobs in the coming years and equipping today’s youth for the future workplace.

Wisconsin’s plan focuses on investing in cloud computing and AI infrastructure, as well as developing what Microsoft refers to as the United States’ “first manufacturing-focused AI co-innovation lab.” Like its initiatives in the regions where Microsoft is investing in AI, the company will also train Wisconsinites to equip them for employment in an AI-driven future.

“Wisconsin has a rich and storied legacy of innovation and ingenuity in manufacturing,” Brad Smith, Microsoft President and Vice Chair, said in a press release. “We will use the power of AI to help advance the next generation of manufacturing companies, skills, and jobs in Wisconsin and across the country. This is what a big company can do to build a strong foundation for every medium, small and start-up company and non-profit everywhere.”

The investment for Microsoft’s AI Data Center commences immediately and is anticipated to conclude by 2026. Microsoft announced that approximately 2,300 construction workers will be hired around 2025 to construct the “state-of-the-art” data center campus in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin. Approximately 1,000 students from Gateway Technical College will undergo training to work at the center.

Governor Tony Evers described this as a “watershed moment” for the state.
Local businesses and civic and government leaders will receive training in AI to facilitate their adoption of the technology. The goal is for 100,000 individuals across the state to be proficient in generative AI by 2030.

In the press release, the White House promptly reminded Americans that the previous administration’s proposal to have Foxconn build a USD 10 billion plant and generate an estimated 13,000 new jobs “never materialized.” The communication contained a barrage of criticisms regarding Trump’s tenure at the White House, elucidating that the Foxconn deal led to the waste of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.

President Joe Biden traveled to Wisconsin, a state that the White House has historically been “overlooked or failed by the last administration’s policies.”