The Zhitong Finance App learned that Microsoft (MSFT.US) announced that it will invest 1.7 billion US dollars in Indonesia over the next four years to build cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure, betting that Southeast Asia's largest economy will drive growth.

On Tuesday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced the investment plan after meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo. The company also promised to help train 2.5 million people in Southeast Asia to master artificial intelligence skills, including 840,000 in Indonesia.

Currently, Microsoft's leadership is visiting three Southeast Asian countries. Although the region was once overlooked by companies focusing on large economies such as China and India, in recent years, due to heightened geopolitical tension, Southeast Asia has gradually become a hot spot for corporate competition and has attracted the attention of tech giants and startups. Prior to Nadella, Nvidia (NVDA.US)'s Wong In-hoon and Apple's (AAPL.US) Tim Cook also made high-profile visits to the region.

Furthermore, artificial intelligence has always been an important topic for Nadella. He promoted this technology in many countries and conferences, including calling on countries and companies to invest in technology and train employees at the World Economic Forum, and emphasized the potential of artificial intelligence to reshape the entire economy. He plans to go to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur later this week.

According to information, Microsoft and rivals such as Google (GOOGL.US) and Meta Platforms Inc. (META.US), a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. (Alphabet Inc.), are starting a battle for the dominance of artificial intelligence. The world's most valuable company, based in Redmond, Washington, partnered with OpenAI to challenge Google's two-year lead in internet search.

Microsoft is betting on generative artificial intelligence technology to regain leadership and sees Asia as a major market and talent pool. In 2021, it launched a plan to promote inclusive economic growth in Indonesia, including building its first data center in the country.

In response, Indonesia's Minister of Information and Communications Budi Arie Setiadi (Budi Arie Setiadi) revealed on Tuesday that Indonesia has selected Bali and the new capital Nusantara as potential sites for Microsoft research and data centers.

Using its $13 billion investment in OpenAI, Microsoft launched a series of artificial intelligence assistants and other functions, and integrated them into products such as Windows, Office, and Bing. Many of these products require customers to pay extra to use them. To meet growing demand for artificial intelligence services, Microsoft is massively expanding its global data center network, with capital expenditure of $14 billion in the third quarter.

It is worth mentioning that since taking charge of Microsoft ten years ago, Nadella has been committed to promoting the development of this technology in Southeast Asia. When visiting India in February of this year, Nadella called on countries to actively invest in artificial intelligence technology and promised to train 2 million people in their country of birth to master relevant skills. Three years ago, Microsoft opened its first data center in Malaysia.