Yazılar

Microsoft to Invest $300 Million in South Africa’s AI Infrastructure Expansion

/in /tarafından

Microsoft has announced plans to invest an additional 5.4 billion rand ($296.81 million) in South Africa by 2027 to expand its cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, catering to the increasing demand for Azure services in the region.

At a Johannesburg event on Thursday, Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith revealed the company’s strategy to support digital skills development. Microsoft will cover the cost of technical certification exams for 50,000 individuals in areas of high demand, including cloud architecture, AI, and cybersecurity.

This new investment builds on Microsoft’s previous expenditure of 20.4 billion rand, which was used to establish South Africa’s first enterprise-grade data centres in Johannesburg and Cape Town. These facilities have positioned the country as a critical hub for data centres to meet the growing computational needs of AI as businesses look to integrate the technology into their services.

Looking ahead, Microsoft plans to spend approximately $80 billion globally in fiscal 2025 to advance data centre infrastructure, with a focus on training AI models and deploying AI-powered applications and cloud services.

Blackstone’s £10 Billion Data Centre Project in North East England Approved

/in /tarafından

Blackstone, a prominent U.S. private equity firm, has received planning approval for its ambitious $13 billion “hyperscale” data centre project in North East England. The Northumberland County Council granted unanimous approval for the facility on Tuesday, with plans for the site in Blyth, Northumberland to span approximately 540,000 square metres.

The investment, which could reach up to £10 billion, will involve a large-scale data centre campus designed to meet the growing demand for data storage and cloud computing services. These “hyperscale” data centres are integral to supporting businesses, especially with the increased reliance on technologies like artificial intelligence.

The project is set to create substantial employment opportunities, with 1,200 long-term construction jobs and hundreds of positions for the operation of the centres. Additionally, up to 2,700 indirect jobs could be supported by the project. As part of the agreement, Blackstone will also contribute to a £110 million fund aimed at fostering economic growth and job creation in the region, particularly along the newly opened “Northumberland Line” railway.

This development follows the collapse of a previous plan for the site, which was originally designated for Britishvolt’s electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant before its closure last year. Blackstone’s initiative reflects the increasing demand for data centre capacity, driven by the surge in artificial intelligence and cloud computing, despite challenges in meeting this demand, according to recent research by CBRE Group.

Amazon Shares Drop as Cloud Growth Misses Expectations

/in /tarafından

Amazon’s stock fell by 4% on Friday after the company’s quarterly cloud computing revenue growth fell short of investor expectations. The disappointing results reflected a slowdown in growth at Amazon Web Services (AWS), which posted a 19% increase in revenue to $28.79 billion. This figure was slightly below the anticipated $28.87 billion. The performance echoed similar disappointments from other major tech giants, including Microsoft and Alphabet, who also saw cloud revenue growth fail to meet expectations.

The missed expectations came as cloud companies, particularly those heavily investing in AI, are under greater scrutiny. AWS’s growth rate matched that of the previous quarter, raising concerns among analysts about potential capacity constraints or other unidentified issues.

The disappointing results led to a $100 billion drop in Amazon’s market value. However, Amazon’s stock has still risen about 4% in 2025, outpacing losses seen by Microsoft and Alphabet, whose stocks have fallen by 3%. Despite this drop, Amazon’s shares continue to be favored by analysts, with 68 recommending buying the stock and no analysts advising to sell.