"‘World’s most powerful AI data center’ is nearing completion; Microsoft is investing another 4 billion to build version 2.0."

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Microsoft is becoming an AI infrastructure powerhouse, ramping up investment in data center construction.

On Thursday the 18th, Eastern Time, Microsoft announced that the "world's most powerful AI data center," built at a cost of $3.3 billion in Wisconsin, USA, will go into operation in early 2026. The company plans to invest another $4 billion to build a second data center of the same scale in the state, with total investment in the state surpassing $7 billion.

The nearly completed data center is called Fairwater. According to Microsoft, it will run as a large-scale AI supercomputer, using a single flat network to connect hundreds of thousands of the latest Nvidia GPUs, becoming a powerful facility for AI training, and will initially be used to train OpenAI models. Fairwater covers an area of 315 acres, includes three buildings with a total area of 1.2 million square feet, and is equipped with hundreds of thousands of Nvidia GB200 GPUs.

Microsoft President Brad Smith said that the data center integrates the most advanced Nvidia GPUs, powerful network connections, and system architecture, allowing it to train more advanced AI models than before. CEO Satya Nadella stated that Fairwater's performance will reach ten times that of the world's current fastest supercomputer.

The new investment announced by Microsoft on Thursday highlights the fierce competition in AI infrastructure among cloud computing giants. Dutch technology company Nebius last week revealed that it secured an order worth up to $19.4 billion to supply AI computing power to Microsoft. On Tuesday, Microsoft announced a further investment of $15.5 billion in infrastructure in the UK.

Wisconsin Project: Technical Specifications and Innovative Breakthroughs

The Wisconsin data center project showcases Microsoft's technological ambitions in AI infrastructure. According to Microsoft President Brad Smith, construction of the facility requires 120 miles of medium-voltage underground cables and 72.6 miles of mechanical pipelines.

The data center adopts a unique two-story building design to achieve tighter network connections and reduced latency. Smith said: "The combination of the number of Nvidia GPUs, their performance, and the networks and systems connecting all the computing power makes this project so cutting-edge."

The facility is equipped with the most advanced cooling system, with over 90% of the plant using a closed-loop system to circulate water and chemicals, requiring no refilling. The remainder uses external air cooling, switching to water cooling only during very hot weather. Smith stated that the annual water consumption of a single data center is equivalent to the weekly peak summer usage of a typical 18-hole golf course.

Executive Remarks: Betting on Large-Scale AI Infrastructure

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated on social media X: "If intelligence is the logarithm of computing...then start with massive amounts of computing! That's why we are expanding GPU cluster scale faster than anyone else."

Nadella revealed that in just the last year, Microsoft added more than 2GW of capacity, "roughly equivalent to the output of two nuclear power plants." He emphasized that Fairwater is "hundreds of thousands of Nvidia GB200 seamless clusters, connected by fiber optic cables long enough to circle the Earth 4.5 times."

Microsoft President Brad Smith said at a Wisconsin town hall meeting that the company has started hiring full-time staff for the first data center's operation. He disclosed that he once lived in Mount Pleasant for nearly five years as a child: "This moment is not just personal nostalgia, but it shows that Wisconsin not only has a long and proud industrial history, but is also helping to define the future of American innovation."

Global Expansion Strategy: Advancing AI Facilities Simultaneously in Multiple Locations

Microsoft Cloud + AI Vice President Scott Guthrie mentioned that the Wisconsin project is part of a global wave of AI infrastructure investments by Microsoft. "In addition to the Fairwater data center in Wisconsin, we have multiple similar Fairwater data centers under construction in other regions of the US."

Last week, Nebius in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, announced that Microsoft had agreed to spend up to $19.4 billion over five years to lease the company’s data center capacity. This week also saw some international investment announcements by Microsoft outside the US: Microsoft announced a joint venture with nScale and Aker to develop a new hyperscale AI data center in Narvik, Norway; Microsoft announced cooperation with nScale to build the UK's largest supercomputer in Loughton, UK;

Guthrie emphasized that these AI data centers "represent tens of billions of dollars in investment and hundreds of thousands of cutting-edge AI chips," and will be seamlessly connected to Microsoft’s cloud network of over 400 data centers in 70+ regions worldwide. On Tuesday, Smith said that Microsoft has committed to investing an additional $15.5 billion in infrastructure in the UK by 2028.

Microsoft has also reached an agreement with Amsterdam's Nebius Group to spend up to $19.4 billion over five years to lease AI data center capacity, further expanding its global AI infrastructure network.

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