Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US) has invested $4 billion to build its second data center in Virginia, bringing the total investment to $7.3 billion.

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US) announced on Thursday that it has signed an agreement to invest $4 billion over three years to build a second data center in Wisconsin. Previously, the company had invested $3.3 billion in the state, bringing the total investment in data centers in Wisconsin to $7.3 billion. The first data center is located in Mount Pleasant and is expected to be operational by early 2026. Brad Smith, Vice Chairman and President of Microsoft Corporation, pointed out in a blog post that the data center is designed to support artificial intelligence researchers and engineers in building the world's most advanced models, accelerating creative testing, and improving work efficiency. The core purpose is not only to run artificial intelligence, but also to "create artificial intelligence" - the next generation of AI models will be trained here, laying the foundation for new discoveries in fields like medicine and science. He emphasized that the entire Mount Pleasant facility will deploy hundreds of thousands of NVIDIA Corporation GB200 GPU chips, and will be interconnected with fiber optics that could circle the Earth four times, making it the most advanced artificial intelligence training cluster in the world. Addressing the issue of rising electricity costs - a phenomenon often attributed to the development of artificial intelligence and data centers, Smith stated that Microsoft Corporation is taking steps to avoid increasing costs for neighboring communities. Specific measures include prepaying for the energy and power infrastructure fees required by the company to prevent raising electricity prices in the surrounding communities, protecting consumers from the additional costs associated with data centers; as well as pledging that "for every megawatt-hour of fossil-sourced electricity we consume, Microsoft Corporation will pay back the grid with an equal amount of carbon-free energy, including the 250-megawatt CECEP Solar Energy project under construction in Portage County." The partnership between Microsoft Corporation and WE Energies will ensure continuous exploration of energy transmission, generation, and usage methods under transparent electricity prices, ensuring grid reliability. In terms of employment, Smith revealed that the first data center is expected to employ approximately 500 full-time employees once fully operational, and the total number of employees will increase to around 800 after the second data center is completed. In addition, earlier this week, Microsoft Corporation also announced plans to invest $30 billion in the UK over the next four years.