Microsoft Corp. today announced an investment package of $3.3 billion in Southeast Wisconsin, where the tech giant will build an artificial intelligence data center in the same place where Foxconn Technology Group’s $10 billion manufacturing plant project never came to fruition.

The data center in Wisconsin follows a slew of hefty investments in AI that the Seattle-based firm has committed to globally. From the countries of Southeast Asia to the promise of making London an AI hub, Microsoft is spending billions of dollars while potentially creating tens of thousands of new jobs in the next few years and preparing today’s youth for the future workplace.

The plan for Wisconsin revolves around investing in cloud computing and AI infrastructure, as well as building what Microsoft has called the U.S.’s “first manufacturing-focused AI co-innovation lab.” As in the aforementioned regions where Microsoft is investing in AI, it will also focus on training Wisconsinites to prepare them for work in an AI-heavy future.

“Wisconsin has a rich and storied legacy of innovation and ingenuity in manufacturing,” Microsoft President and Vice Chair Brad Smith said in a press release. “We will use the power of AI to help advance the next generation of manufacturing companies, skills, and jobs in Wisconsin and across the country. This is what a big company can do to build a strong foundation for every medium, small and start-up company and non-profit everywhere.”

The investment starts now and is expected to end in 2026. Microsoft said that it will require about 2,300 construction workers, who will be hired sometime in 2025 to build the “state-of-the-art” data center campus in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin. About 1,000 students from the Gateway Technical College will be trained to work in the center.

Governor Tony Evers said this is a “watershed moment” for the state. Local businesses, as well as civic and government leaders, will be trained in AI to enable them to adopt the technology. It’s hoped that 100,000 people across the state will be fluent in generative AI by 2030.

In the press release, the White House was quick to remind Americans that the former administration’s plan to have Foxconn build a $10 billion plant and create an estimated 13,000 new jobs “never materialized.” The missive included a salvo of criticisms of Trump’s time at the White House, explaining that 100 homes and farms and “hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars were wasted” on the Foxconn deal.

President Joe Biden went to Wisconsin today, a state the White House said historically has been “overlooked or failed by the last administration’s policies.”

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