Microsoft to Invest $50 Billion to Expand AI Access Across the Global South

New Delhi: US technology major Microsoft announced on Wednesday that it is on track to invest $50 billion by the end of the decade to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence across countries in the Global South.

In a blog post, Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, and Natasha Crampton, the company’s Chief Responsible AI Officer, noted that AI usage in the Global North is currently about twice as high as in the Global South — and the gap continues to widen. They cautioned that this imbalance threatens not only regional economic growth but also AI’s broader potential to drive inclusive prosperity worldwide.

Smith highlighted that the India AI Impact Summit has placed the AI divide at the centre of its discussions. Drawing a historical parallel, he observed that unequal access to electricity once deepened economic disparities between the Global North and South, warning that a similar divide in AI access could have long-term consequences if not urgently addressed.

Elevate for Educators Launched in India

As part of its broader strategy, Microsoft unveiled “Elevate for Educators” in India, a programme aimed at strengthening the capabilities of two million teachers across more than 200,000 schools, vocational institutions, and higher education centres.

The initiative, to be implemented in partnership with national education and workforce training authorities, seeks to empower India’s teaching workforce to lead confidently in an AI-driven era. The programme is expected to expand equitable AI learning opportunities to approximately eight million students.

Five-Pillar Strategy for AI Inclusion

Microsoft outlined a five-part framework to accelerate AI diffusion globally:

Building AI infrastructure

Empowering people through digital skills and technology access

Enhancing multilingual and multicultural AI systems

Supporting locally driven AI innovation

Measuring AI diffusion to inform policy and investment decisions

The company emphasised that achieving meaningful impact will require strong cross-border partnerships spanning governments, private enterprises, and nonprofit organisations.

Infrastructure and Skilling Push

In the previous fiscal year alone, Microsoft invested over $8 billion in data centre infrastructure serving the Global South, including expansions in India, Mexico, Africa, South America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.

Through its Microsoft Elevate initiative launched in July, the company committed to helping 20 million people in and beyond the Global South earn AI-related credentials by 2028. After training 5.6 million individuals in India in 2025, Microsoft further pledged to equip 20 million people in India with essential AI skills by 2030.

Advancing Responsible and Localised AI

Microsoft Research is advancing “Samiksha,” a community-centred AI evaluation framework, in collaboration with Karya and The Collective Intelligence Project in India.

Samiksha integrates local languages, culturally specific communication norms, and regionally relevant use cases into AI testing processes, addressing limitations often overlooked in English-centric evaluations.

Meanwhile, India’s developer ecosystem continues to expand rapidly. With 24 million developers, India is now the second-largest national community on GitHub. It is also the fastest-growing among the top 30 global economies, registering annual growth exceeding 26 percent since 2020 and a surge of over 36 percent as of the fourth quarter of 2025.

Microsoft’s latest commitments underscore its broader strategy to narrow the global AI divide by investing in infrastructure, skills, research, and cross-sector partnerships across emerging economies.

With inputs from IANS