Microsoft in its bid to train workers on generative Artificial Intelligence has invested $3.3 billion on a project in Wisconsin – the site Joe Biden visited on May 8th, where he mocked Trump’s “failed” Foxconn project
Wisconsin, a crucial swing state in the forthcoming presidential election, became a subject of business jargon after Microsoft said it is pouring $3.3 billion in the battleground state to build a data hub that would empower employees’ knowledge on how to best use artificial intelligence. According to Microsoft, this investment would create 2,300 union construction jobs and 2,000 permanent jobs over time.
Joe Biden who has incentivized employment to boost his presidential credentials among state voters appeared at the site in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, on May 8th, to underscore his administration’s tireless efforts to accelerate job growth not only in Wisconsin, but in all of America.
Joe Biden seized a moment to disparage former president, Donald Trump during his visit at the site. Significance of this particular piece of land where Microsoft will build its data hub in Wisconsin is reminiscent of Donald J. Trump’s $10 billion investment project by tech manufacturer Foxconn that he undertook during his presidential tenure, six years ago, as a promise to bring 13,000 jobs to the area, a plan that never came to pass.
“So I’m thrilled to be in the Badger State with the hardworking men and women of Foxconn working with you. Moments ago we broke ground on a project that will provide jobs for much more than 13,000 Wisconsin workers. It is really something”, mentioned Trump in his 2018 site visit in Wisconsin.
Biden mocks Trump in media address at Wisconsin project site
Joe Biden who unveiled Microsoft’s $3.3 billion artificial intelligence project, drew a sharp contrast to his Republican frontrunner who touted a previous $10 billion assignment on the same piece of land – a plan that never materialized. Seizing it as a “politically” strategic moment, Joe Biden lambasted his potential presidential contender for failing to keep his word of honor.
“My predecessor made promises, which he broke,” Biden said, “On my watch, we make promises, and we keep promises.” Foxconn in 2021, said it would invest $672 million at the site instead of the $10 billion initially planned and forecast 1,454 jobs, down from 13,000 as its plans shifted and tax breaks were reduced amid local skepticism.
Biden’s May 8th visit marked his forth visit to the state this year. He optimized his visit to boast about his explicit “good deeds” by enabling more jobs to flourish, he said Microsoft’s investment would create thousands of jobs and improve living standards of another thousand. The facility will be built where Biden’s rival for the presidency, Donald Trump, announced the $10 billion project in 2017, by Foxconn, that the company later drastically scaled back. Trump had called it, “the eighth wonder of the world.”
“I’m here to talk about a great comeback story in America,” Biden told about 200 people at Gateway Technical College’s Sturtevant campus in a Midwestern state hit by manufacturing declines.
Project in Wisconsin is Biden’s opportunity to seek another term
President Joe Biden visited the key battleground state that presented an opportunity for his administration to hang on display plethora of their achievements in being able to expand funding to bolster Wisconsin’s overall infrastructure and economy. Their first-hand achievement constitutes of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Chips Act, which invests in semiconductor chip manufacturing in the United States, that will strengthen job prospects in the Badger State.
Beyond artificial intelligence, state of Wisconsin is also seeing a spate of funding towards futuristic industries. The state received $6.9 billion from Biden’s “Investing in America” agenda for infrastructure and clean energy. This electorally headfast state voted for Joe Biden during 2020 presidential election, but he won with a “razor-thin” margin of 0.63% in comparison to his biggest rival, former president Donald Trump. The lack of certainty that Wisconsin holds, has made it a crucial swing state in the forthcoming presidential election.
Microsoft’s $3.3 billion investment in Wisconsin is another extension to Biden’s longstanding will to ramp projects in the area before the election. Microsoft said it will use the center to train about 100,000 workers across the state on generative AI by 2030, thanks in part to a partnership with United Way Wisconsin, United Way Racine, and other community partners. It also plans to open a lab on the campus on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to help companies and manufacturers leverage the technology into their businesses.
In a fact sheet released by the White House, the administration says that, 177,000 jobs have been added in Wisconsin – 4,000 specifically in Racine – since the president took office in 2021. Last year, Biden signed an executive order on AI aimed at different projects – to get entrepreneurs access to technical access and resources, help small businesses commercialize AI breakthroughs, and expand grants for AI research in areas such as healthcare and climate change.
These efforts all manufactured to heighten artificial intelligence’s accessibility in the state directly coincides with US Congress’s deliberate attempts to curtail AI’s growing influence. In March, Biden urged Congress to pass legislation to regulate artificial intelligence, including banning “AI voice impersonation and more.” He said lawmakers need to “harness the promise of AI and protect us from its peril,” warning American of the risk this technology can reverberate if left unchecked.
