- Microsoft has invested billions across Europe in an attempt to increase EU data center capacity by 40%.
- The company also helps strengthen the region’s resilience in the face of ongoing geopolitical upheaval.
- Microsoft says it wants to earn Europeans’ trust through hard work
Amid continued accusations of anticompetitive behavior and antitrust investigations in at least six markets, Microsoft gave us an update on its work on European sovereignty and the five core principles it set out last year.
In 2025, the company said it would build a stronger AI and cloud computing ecosystem in Europe, ensure digital resilience in a risky geopolitical context, protect European privacy, strengthen regional cybersecurity and boost economic competitiveness – but how has it fared so far?
By its own assessments, it appears that Microsoft is making significant progress in its continental strategy as it strives to increase its European data center capacity by 40%.
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Microsoft says things are looking good in Europe
Over the past year, Microsoft has invested billions in new investments in Portugal (+$10 billion), Norway (+$6.2 billion), and the United Kingdom (+$30 billion), as well as existing data center footprints in Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Poland, and Switzerland.
Microsoft also emphasized that sovereignty means much more than data residency, recognizing current geopolitics and Europe’s desire to stay connected even amid ongoing and growing tensions.
This is why, in government contracts, its commitment to digital resilience has become legally binding and why it launched a partnership with the German Delos Cloud “to guarantee business continuity in Europe in times of crisis”.
In addition to its data privacy and cybersecurity efforts, Microsoft also says it has contributed somewhat less directly to European economic competitiveness by supporting local GitHub creators and launching a project to “collect high-quality speech and text datasets for Europe’s underrepresented languages.”
“Trust cannot be claimed,” concluded EMEA President Samer Abu-Ltaif and the company’s Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for External and Legal Affairs Jeff Bullwinkel. “This must be earned by our actions, day in and day out.”
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