Microsoft’s Satya Nadella Discusses AI, Cybersecurity, and More with US President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk
Microsoft’s Investment in AI Data Centers
Microsoft Corp’s Satya Nadella discussed AI and cybersecurity during a meeting with US President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk, becoming the latest tech industry chieftain to make overtures to the new administration.
Key Points of Discussion
The conversation touched on a range of topics, including Microsoft’s pledge to invest $80 billion on AI data centers worldwide. More than $50 billion of that will be spent in the US, creating American jobs, according to the statement. Microsoft President Brad Smith joined the meeting along with Trump’s running mate, JD Vance.
Industry Efforts to Warm Relations with Trump
Silicon Valley has sought to warm relations with Trump following his victory last November, despite frequent clashes during his first term. Many have traveled to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, where the president-elect and Musk have held a series of private meetings and dinners to discuss plans for the coming term. Semafor first reported Nadella’s dinner with Trump.
AI Regulations and Export Control Policy
Smith has cautioned the incoming Trump administration against "heavy-handed regulations" related to AI. "The most important US public-policy priority should be to ensure that the US private sector can continue to advance with the wind at its back," Smith wrote this month. The country needs "a pragmatic export control policy that balances strong security protection for AI components in trusted data centers with an ability for US companies to expand rapidly and provide a reliable source of supply to the many countries that are American allies and friends," Smith wrote.
Cloud Infrastructure Expansion
Cloud infrastructure providers like Microsoft and Amazon.com Inc. have been racing to expand computing capacity by constructing new data centers. In the previous fiscal year ending in June 2024, Microsoft spent more than $50 billion on capital expenditures, the vast majority related to server farm construction fueled by demand for artificial intelligence services.
Nuclear Power Agreements
Much of the spending on data centers goes toward high-powered chips from companies including Nvidia Corp. and infrastructure providers such as Dell Technologies Inc. The massive AI-enabled server farms require lots of power, which prompted Microsoft to strike a deal to reopen a reactor at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, the site of a notorious partial meltdown in 1979. Amazon and Google have also signed nuclear power agreements.
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