By Kimberley Kao
Microsoft said it plans to invest more than $1 billion in Thailand over the next two years in cloud and artificial-intelligence infrastructure, as demand for AI computing continues to grow in the region.
The U.S. tech giant said Tuesday following a meeting between its vice chair and president, Brad Smith, and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul that the investment will build on existing partnerships to expand its data-center footprint and upskill local talent.
Microsoft also plans to invest in cybersecurity and sovereign technology in the country.
The investment aims to accelerate the adoption and use of AI across Thailand's workforce, also known as AI diffusion, which is an indicator of productivity and long-term economic competitiveness, Microsoft said.
"There is a noticeable gap in AI diffusion between the world's most advanced economies and the developing world," Smith said.
"Thailand is already moving in the right direction, and we are committed to helping the cloud and AI advance this country's entire economy and all of its people," he said.
Microsoft, which competes in the cloud and data-center space with the likes of Alphabet, Amazon and Alibaba in the region, has been ramping up its cloud services amid a continued boom in AI computing demand.
In recent years, Microsoft has committed billions to the region, including in Indonesia, Malaysia and India.
The company in January reported higher-than-expected spending on data centers and other AI infrastructure while growth in its closely watched cloud business slowed in its second fiscal quarter. Azure's revenue potential was capped by the limited availability of AI hardware, but cloud demand is still outpacing supply, Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood told investors at the time.
Microsoft in October said that it planned to double its data-center capacity in the next two years and spend more than it previously projected on AI infrastructure, including data centers.
Write to Kimberley Kao at kimberley.kao@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 31, 2026 02:46 ET (06:46 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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