Microsoft has announced a $2.9 billion investment over the next two years in Japan to bolster the country’s push into artificial intelligence (AI) and strengthen its cyber defences in the face of threats from China and Russia.

Microsoft announced the investment on Tuesday.

The announcement coincides with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to Washington in United States, underscoring Tokyo’s commitment to becoming a major AI power.

Japan is also expanding its semiconductor industry with the help of big foreign investment. Taiwanese chip behemoth TSMC opened a new $8.6-billion chip factory in southern Japan in February and is planning a second facility.

Microsoft has become a major player in the advancement of AI through its partnership with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI – propelling it past Apple as the world’s biggest company by market capitalisation.

“This is Microsoft’s single largest investment in its 46-year history in Japan,” said Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, who met Kishida on Tuesday.

“These investments are essential ingredients for Japan to build a robust AI economy,” Smith added.

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The investment includes providing “more advanced computing resources”, according to Smith, including powerful graphics processing units crucial for running AI applications.

Microsoft also pledged to invest in training three million Japanese workers in AI skills over the next three years and announced the opening of its first Microsoft Research Asia lab in Tokyo that will work on AI and robotics.

The U.S. company also unveiled plans to collaborate with Japan’s government to strengthen the country’s cybersecurity following an increase in hacking and breaches, according to AFP.

Smith said: “The threat landscape for cybersecurity has become more challenging.

“We’re seeing that from China and from Russia in particular, but we’re also seeing growing ransomware activity around the world.”

Google in March also launched a new cybersecurity hub in Japan, aimed at helping to upgrade defences in the Asia-Pacific.

Kishida will meet President Joe Biden on Wednesday with defence ties high on the agenda, but also cooperation in technology from space to semiconductors.

Motivated by geopolitical concerns surrounding Taiwan, Tokyo is seeking to bring back the 1980s glory days when Japanese firms such as Toshiba and NEC dominated the microchip market.

As well as the TSMC plants, Japan is ploughing about $6 billion into its next-generation semiconductor venture called Rapidus, involving a host of Japanese firms including Sony and Toyota.

Rapidus is collaborating with U.S. giant IBM with the aim of mass-producing two-nanometre logic chips in Japan from 2027.

The Star