Microsoft has announced a significant investment of $3.3 billion to build a data hub in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin. This hub aims to train employees and manufacturers on how to effectively use artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The announcement comes six years after the Trump administration’s highly publicized but ultimately unsuccessful plan to bring a $10 billion Foxconn manufacturing plant to the same location, which promised to create 13,000 jobs but never materialized.
President Joe Biden will visit the site on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, to highlight his administration’s efforts to invest in job growth across America. The new Microsoft center is expected to create 2,300 union construction jobs and 2,000 permanent jobs over time.
Microsoft plans to use this center to train approximately 100,000 workers across Wisconsin on generative AI by 2030. This will be achieved through a partnership with United Way Wisconsin, United Way Racine, and other community partners. Additionally, Microsoft will open a lab on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus to help companies and manufacturers integrate AI technology into their businesses.
During his remarks, President Biden plans to directly criticize former President Trump for the failed Foxconn project. The president’s visit to Wisconsin, a key battleground state, also presents an opportunity for the White House to highlight the Biden administration’s accomplishments during its first term, including funding from legislation like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the “Chips Act,” which invests in semiconductor chip manufacturing in the United States.
According to a White House fact sheet, the administration claims that 177,000 jobs have been added in Wisconsin since Biden took office in 2021, with 4,000 of those jobs located in Racine.
Last year, Biden signed an executive order on AI, aimed at providing entrepreneurs with access to technical assistance and resources, helping small businesses commercialize AI breakthroughs, and expanding grants for AI research in areas such as healthcare and climate change. The White House also introduced an order in 2023 requiring AI system developers to share the results of their safety tests with the federal government before releasing their products to the public.
Microsoft’s move comes at a time when the government seeks to monitor and regulate the potential risks of artificial intelligence. In March, Biden urged Congress during his State of the Union address to pass legislation regulating AI, including banning “AI voice impersonation and more.” He warned that lawmakers need to “harness the promise of AI and protect us from its peril,” highlighting the technology’s risks to Americans if left unchecked.
Beyond AI, Wisconsin has received $6.9 billion from Biden’s “Investing in America” agenda for infrastructure and clean energy projects.
Source: CNN article published on May 8, 2024, titled “Biden takes aim at Trump for failed Foxconn project with visit to Microsoft’s new site in Wisconsin” by Samantha Murphy Kelly and Samantha Waldenberg. You can check out the full article here.
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