Microsoft announced a broad investment package on May 8 that include $3.3 billion in cloud computing and AI infrastructure on and near the site in southeastern Wisconsin where Foxconn had planned to build a multi-billion semiconductor plant. President Joe Biden joined Microsoft President Brad Smith at Gateway Technical College, in Kenosha, WI, to announce the new investment.
Microsoft will invest $3.3 billion between now and the end of 2026 to expand its national cloud and AI infrastructure capacity through the development of a state-of-the-art datacenter campus in Mount Pleasant, WI, according to a company press release. The project is expected to bring an influx of 2,300 union construction jobs to the area by 2025, as well as providing long-term employment opportunities over the next several years. This new infrastructure will help enable companies in Wisconsin and across the country to develop, deploy and use the world’s most advanced cloud services and AI applications to grow, modernize and improve their products and enterprises.
Along with building a physical data center, Microsoft will partner with Gateway Technical College to build a Data Center Academy to train and certify more than 1,000 students in five years to work in the new data center and IT sector jobs created in the area.