Global Tech Leaders Urge Democratic, Inclusive AI to Serve Global South at India AI Summit 2026

February 19, 2026 7:43 PM

Global Tech Leaders Urge Democratic, Inclusive AI to Serve Global South at India AI Summit 2026

Leading figures from the technology and philanthropy sectors on Thursday called for the democratization and inclusive development of artificial intelligence to prevent deepening global divides and to deliver broad prosperity, particularly in the Global South, during keynote addresses at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi. The summit, inaugurated earlier in the day by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who stressed that AI must serve as a tool for inclusion and empowerment in developing regi...

AI will shape economic balance between Global North and South: Microsoft’s Brad Smith

February 19, 2026 1:56 PM

AI will shape economic balance between Global North and South: Microsoft’s Brad Smith

Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, on Thursday said that artificial intelligence (AI) will play a decisive role in shaping the global economic balance, particularly between the Global North and the Global South. Speaking at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, Smith said the broader global context must be considered when assessing AI’s potential impact. “The best way to think about AI is to look at it in the context of the world we live in. We live in a tumultuous and fragmented...

Microsoft to invest 4 billion euros in France

May 13, 2024 5:30 PM

Microsoft to invest 4 billion euros in France

Technology and software giant Microsoft will invest 4 billion euros ($4.3 billion) in France as part of the annual 'Choose France' business summit, its president Brad Smith announced on Monday (May 13). "We're going to spend 4-billion euros to build a world-leading AI and data centre and cloud infrastructure here in France. We're going to bring to France 25,000 of the world's most advanced GPUs (graphics processing units). We will build the computing capacity here in France, we will put this in...