Microsoft set to build $3.3 billion cloud campus to fuel AI growth

Microsoft has snapped up the same location Foxconn acquired to build an LCD panel manufacturing plant, but instead of panels, Microsoft will be constructing a data center.

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After years of delays Foxconn failed to materialize the LCD manufacturing project at Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, and over the years Microsoft has snapped up more and more of the land that was originally set aside for Foxconn's project, eventually resulting in the Taiwanese company pulling out and Microsoft scooping up the rest of the site.

Microsoft's proposal for a data center features infrastructure and community improvements to the local area, with promises that it will up-skill 100,000 residents across the state to be component at generative AI technologies such as Microsoft Copilot, train and certify 3,000 local AI software developers, and 1,000 cloud datacenter technicians. Moreover, Microsoft President Brad Smith, backed the push for AI as it has the potential to revolutionize manufacturing plants, assist workers and create more jobs.

On the contrary, the AI tools that will be trained at the new datacenter may result in thousands, or even millions of jobs being lost across various other markets, as the new tools can make workers obsolete through automation.

Additionally, Microsoft's construction timelines involves working with the National Grid to construct a 250-megawatt solar array somewhere in Wisconsin, according to reports.

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