--- title: "The energy dilemma cannot hinder expansion ambitions: Microsoft increases investment in Japan to $10 billion, partnering with SoftBank and Sakura to build AI cloud facilities" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/281600830.md" description: "Microsoft announced it will invest $10 billion in Japan over four years, planning to collaborate with SoftBank and Sakura Internet to build AI cloud facilities. This move aims to expand its AI service footprint in Asia to meet the growing demand. Microsoft also plans to train 1 million AI engineers by 2029 and ensure all data processing remains in Japan. Following this news, Sakura Internet's stock price rose by 20%, while SoftBank's stock price saw a slight increase. This investment plan is a continuation of Microsoft's expansion in the Japanese market, facing challenges from the global power supply constraints" datetime: "2026-04-03T03:49:06.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/281600830.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/281600830.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/281600830.md) --- # The energy dilemma cannot hinder expansion ambitions: Microsoft increases investment in Japan to $10 billion, partnering with SoftBank and Sakura to build AI cloud facilities According to Zhitong Finance APP, Microsoft (MSFT.US) announced a four-year plan with a total investment of $10 billion to be launched in Japan. This move is an important part of the American tech giant's expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) services in Asia, where the demand for AI services is increasingly strong. The world's largest software manufacturer stated that it will collaborate with Japan's Sakura Internet and telecommunications operator SoftBank Corp. to jointly build cloud computing and AI infrastructure, with the two Japanese companies providing GPU and other computing resources. Following this news, Sakura Internet's stock price surged by 20% on Friday, marking the largest intraday gain since September of last year. SoftBank Corp. (the telecommunications subsidiary of SoftBank Group (SFTBY.US)) also saw a slight increase of 0.5% in its stock price. As part of this investment plan, Microsoft will allocate funds for collaboration in the field of cybersecurity and plans to train 1 million AI engineers by 2029. Microsoft stated that all data processing will remain within Japan. At the time of the announcement, Microsoft President Brad Smith was meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Currently, Microsoft's Copilot product is still lagging behind OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's (GOOGL.US) Gemini in competition. The tech giant, headquartered in Redmond, Washington, is competing with Amazon (AMZN.US) and Google for dominance in the Japanese market. Japan is investing heavily to build a robust AI ecosystem, aiming to catch up with the United States and China. Microsoft's investment plan in Japan continues the similar commitments made earlier this week in Singapore and Thailand, and expands its scale of approximately $2.9 billion in investments in Japan announced for the next two years in 2024. However, the conflict in the Middle East has persisted for nearly two months, leading to ongoing global electricity supply tensions, while major American cloud service providers plan to invest about $650 billion this year alone in building energy-intensive data centers, highlighting the issue of energy constraints. Resource-scarce Japan relies on the Middle East for over 90% of its oil imports and has even restarted less efficient coal-fired power plants to meet existing energy demands. Despite facing energy pressures, the Japanese government has allocated approximately 1.23 trillion yen (about $7.7 billion) in special funds this fiscal year to support advanced chip and AI research and development. Japan hopes to leverage its leading advantage in industrial robotics to increase the global market share of "physical AI" to over 30% by 2040. On the business front, Microsoft is adjusting its strategy, no longer offering the office AI tool Copilot as a free add-on feature of its software suite, but instead shifting to independent sales; at the same time, it is integrating two Copilot teams aimed at individual users and enterprise customers, with the goal of creating a smoother and more unified AI service experience across its entire product line ### Related Stocks - [9984.JP](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/9984.JP.md) - [MSFT.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MSFT.US.md) - [3778.JP](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/3778.JP.md) - [MSFO.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MSFO.US.md) - [MSFL.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MSFL.US.md) - [MSFU.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MSFU.US.md) - [CLOU.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/CLOU.US.md) - [MSFX.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MSFX.US.md) - [MSFD.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MSFD.US.md) - [MSFY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MSFY.US.md) ## Related News & Research - [Microsoft Reportedly Eyed Cursor Before SpaceX's $60 Billion Deal— But Chose Not To Proceed](https://longbridge.com/en/news/283799323.md) - [Focused Investors LLC Boosts Microsoft Stake by 172,800 Shares](https://longbridge.com/en/news/283208763.md) - [Inside Microsoft’s wave of executive departures](https://longbridge.com/en/news/283867124.md) - [Myriad Asset Management US LP Reduces Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT](https://longbridge.com/en/news/283319931.md) - [NABTU and Microsoft expand nationwide initiative to strengthen AI training and career pathways across the skilled trades | MSFT Stock News](https://longbridge.com/en/news/283466475.md)