<p>New Delhi: Microsoft on Wednesday said it will invest $50 billion by the end of the decade to expand artificial intelligence (AI) access across countries in the Global South, including India.</p>.<p>According to Microsoft’s Vice Chair and President Brad Smith, the proposed investment includes $17.5 billion announced for India. </p>.<p>“We need to bring the infrastructure that the Global South needs — that means data centres, connectivity and electricity. That’s why Satya Nadella (Microsoft CEO) announced that Microsoft would be spending $17 billion in India. It’s why we’re on pace to spend $50 billion by the end of the decade bringing AI here,” Smith said at the India AI Impact Summit 2026.</p>.<p>In December last year, Nadella announced that Microsoft would invest $17.5 billion in India between 2026 and 2029 to advance the country’s cloud and AI infrastructure, skilling and other operations. This is in addition to the $3-billion investment announced in January last year.</p>.<p>In its latest AI Diffusion report, Microsoft noted that AI adoption in the Global North is roughly twice that of the Global South and the gap is widening.</p>.<p>“This disparity impacts not only national and regional economic growth, but whether AI can deliver on its broader promise of expanding opportunity and prosperity around the world,” it said.</p>.Bill Gates not to attend AI Impact Summit amid Epstein row? Microsoft co-founder's name quietly disappears from key participants list.<p>The India AI Impact Summit has rightly placed this challenge at the centre 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, it said.</p>.<p>“If AI is deployed broadly and used well by a young and growing population, it offers a real prospect for catch-up economic growth for the Global South. It might even provide the biggest such opportunity of the 21st century,” noted the report co-authored by Smith and Vice-President and Chief Responsible AI Officer of Microsoft, Natasha Crampton.</p>.<p>Microsoft outlined a five-point strategy to help boost AI in the Global South. It includes building the infrastructure needed for AI diffusion; empowering people through technology and skills for schools and non-profits; strengthening multilingual and multicultural AI capabilities; enabling local AI innovations that address community needs; and measuring AI diffusion to guide future AI policies and investments.</p>.<p>For AI to diffuse broadly and deliver meaningful impact across regions, several conditions matter. “As a company, we are focused on the need for accessible AI infrastructure, systems that work reliably in real-world contexts, and technologies that can be applied toward local challenges and opportunities. Microsoft is committed to working with partners to advance this work, including sharing data to track progress,” the report said.</p>
<p>New Delhi: Microsoft on Wednesday said it will invest $50 billion by the end of the decade to expand artificial intelligence (AI) access across countries in the Global South, including India.</p>.<p>According to Microsoft’s Vice Chair and President Brad Smith, the proposed investment includes $17.5 billion announced for India. </p>.<p>“We need to bring the infrastructure that the Global South needs — that means data centres, connectivity and electricity. That’s why Satya Nadella (Microsoft CEO) announced that Microsoft would be spending $17 billion in India. It’s why we’re on pace to spend $50 billion by the end of the decade bringing AI here,” Smith said at the India AI Impact Summit 2026.</p>.<p>In December last year, Nadella announced that Microsoft would invest $17.5 billion in India between 2026 and 2029 to advance the country’s cloud and AI infrastructure, skilling and other operations. This is in addition to the $3-billion investment announced in January last year.</p>.<p>In its latest AI Diffusion report, Microsoft noted that AI adoption in the Global North is roughly twice that of the Global South and the gap is widening.</p>.<p>“This disparity impacts not only national and regional economic growth, but whether AI can deliver on its broader promise of expanding opportunity and prosperity around the world,” it said.</p>.Bill Gates not to attend AI Impact Summit amid Epstein row? Microsoft co-founder's name quietly disappears from key participants list.<p>The India AI Impact Summit has rightly placed this challenge at the centre 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, it said.</p>.<p>“If AI is deployed broadly and used well by a young and growing population, it offers a real prospect for catch-up economic growth for the Global South. It might even provide the biggest such opportunity of the 21st century,” noted the report co-authored by Smith and Vice-President and Chief Responsible AI Officer of Microsoft, Natasha Crampton.</p>.<p>Microsoft outlined a five-point strategy to help boost AI in the Global South. It includes building the infrastructure needed for AI diffusion; empowering people through technology and skills for schools and non-profits; strengthening multilingual and multicultural AI capabilities; enabling local AI innovations that address community needs; and measuring AI diffusion to guide future AI policies and investments.</p>.<p>For AI to diffuse broadly and deliver meaningful impact across regions, several conditions matter. “As a company, we are focused on the need for accessible AI infrastructure, systems that work reliably in real-world contexts, and technologies that can be applied toward local challenges and opportunities. Microsoft is committed to working with partners to advance this work, including sharing data to track progress,” the report said.</p>