José M. Rodríguez Silva

Updated Tuesday, February 20, 2024-11:54

  • Companies Microsoft will invest almost 2,000 million in Spain in two years with new data centers in Madrid and Aragon

Microsoft will create

a responsible artificial intelligence innovation center

in Spain

with the help of more than a dozen partners, including

Telefónica Tech, Accenture, Seidor, KPMG and PwC

, which will be part of the $2.1 billion investment ( almost 2,000 million euros) announced last Monday after a meeting with Pedro Sánchez.

The president of Microsoft Spain,

Alberto Granados

, has announced this new project within the framework of the

Microsoft AI & Innovation Summit

where 3,000 clients and partners of the company have gathered.

In a press conference, Granados explained that the project will serve to accelerate the deployment of AI and generative AI among companies and Public Administrations in Spain.

Among its functions will be the implementation of numerous advanced training projects, as well as strategic guides for companies. This investment will join the technology company's

data centers

in Madrid, which will host the group's cloud region in the coming months, and the upcoming opening of facilities of these characteristics in

Aragon,

where the group is finalizing the acquisition of land. .

The manager has pointed out that, in parallel, the American giant works closely with the

Secretary of State for Vocational Training

and the

Ministry of Labor

to define what skills the market demands for training in artificial intelligence.

A technology for 'seniors'

Within the framework of these initiatives, Granados has highlighted the age-inclusive nature of artificial intelligence. "Those who best use AI are people over 45 years old," says

Granados

, who points out that, since it is an intuitive element, it is more important to know the business and know how to ask questions than to know about technology.

The manager believes that this center will accelerate implementation by Spanish companies, a field in which the group will soon give a boost with the opening of the general marketing of Copilot licenses

,

the group's assistant, to all types of companies.

Among the large companies that have opted for this assistant is the

Garrigues

law firm , which has acquired

2,000 of these licenses

.

At a general level, the company assures that the use of generative AI in Spain has multiplied by 5.7 between the third and fourth quarters of the year, which would place Spain as the fourth country with the highest use in Europe.

However, this figure contrasts with the proportion of professionals trained in AI, although it has grown by 51%; remains below the European average, ranking 14th and 15th in terms of the number of AI developers using the GitHub group platform