Microsoft has announced significant plans to invest USD $50 billion by the end of the decade to enhance access to artificial intelligence (AI) in the Global South. The commitment was made during the India AI Impact Summit, where leaders highlighted the pressing need for coordinated global action among governments, private companies, and nonprofits to address disparities in AI adoption. Recent findings from Microsoft’s AI Diffusion Report reveal that AI usage in the Global North is approximately double that in the Global South, a gap that threatens to exacerbate global inequalities without intervention.
Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, along with Natasha Crampton, Vice President and Chief Responsible AI Officer, stressed the importance of closing this divide. They argued that doing so is crucial for both economic growth and the equitable distribution of AI benefits. To tackle these challenges, Microsoft outlined a comprehensive five-part program focused on building infrastructure, empowering people through skills development, enhancing multilingual AI capabilities, fostering local innovations, and measuring AI diffusion to inform future investments.
Infrastructure development is vital for AI adoption, necessitating reliable electricity, internet connectivity, and computing capabilities. Over the past fiscal year, Microsoft has invested more than $8 billion in data center infrastructure across regions including India, Mexico, Africa, South America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. The company aims to extend internet access to 250 million people in underserved areas, prioritizing digital sovereignty, cybersecurity, and privacy while facilitating foreign investments where necessary.
Recognizing that technology alone cannot drive change, Microsoft has allocated over $2 billion to digital skills and technology programs for schools and nonprofits in the Global South. Through initiatives like Microsoft Elevate, the company seeks to equip 20 million individuals in India and beyond with essential AI skills by 2028. The Elevate for Educators program aims to enhance the capabilities of two million teachers, thereby preparing students for a future increasingly shaped by AI technologies.
Language barriers present a significant challenge to AI adoption, and Microsoft is addressing this issue through initiatives like LINGUA Africa, a $5.5 million program designed to support AI models for underrepresented African languages. The company is also enhancing multilingual evaluation tools, such as MLCommons AILuminate, and employing community-centered methods like Samiksha to ensure AI systems function effectively in diverse linguistic and cultural contexts. These efforts aim to increase inclusivity and the usability of AI for billions of people whose primary languages have often been overlooked.
In addition to addressing language barriers, Microsoft is focusing on enabling local AI innovations that tackle region-specific challenges such as food security and sustainable agriculture. In Kenya, for instance, the company is collaborating with NASA Harvest and local governments to leverage AI and satellite data for actionable food security insights. Projects like Project Gecko are designed to enhance automatic speech recognition for African languages and develop multilingual AI assistants to benefit communities in East Africa and South Asia.
To ensure that its interventions are effective, Microsoft is expanding its research into AI adoption metrics. Utilizing data from GitHub, Azure Foundry, and the Global AI Adoption Index—developed in partnership with the World Bank—Microsoft is monitoring AI usage and existing gaps across the globe. Insights from the burgeoning Indian developer community, now the second largest globally with 24 million developers, will guide targeted investments and policy efforts, ensuring that AI diffusion remains measurable and impactful.
Microsoft’s commitment to broad AI adoption underscores the necessity for coordinated global efforts encompassing partnerships across various sectors. By investing in essential infrastructure, enhancing skills, promoting multilingual capabilities, and fostering locally relevant innovations, the company seeks to bridge the AI divide and unlock economic opportunities across the Global South.
See also
Tesseract Launches Site Manager and PRISM Vision Badge for Job Site Clarity
Affordable Android Smartwatches That Offer Great Value and Features
Russia”s AIDOL Robot Stumbles During Debut in Moscow
AI Technology Revolutionizes Meat Processing at Cargill Slaughterhouse
Seagate Unveils Exos 4U100: 3.2PB AI-Ready Storage with Advanced HAMR Tech
