Nobody would deny that big tech requires huge investments to kickstart them and keep the ball rolling, but at some point, multi-billion dollar expenditures require some kind of return before they become a lost cause. In the case of Microsoft and AI, that's not something being considered, as the software giant plans on spending $80 billion dollars on machine learning technology this year.
Microsoft casually dropped the monstrously huge sum of money in a long-winded blog by Brad Smith, Vice Chair & President of Microsoft, titled 'The Golden Opportunity for American AI' (via The Register). It starts by making it clear that AI is very much the number one focus right now, and that advances in AI technology and infrastructure need to continue. Microsoft also wants to promote training programs to get more people working in the field and it also wants America, as a whole, to export its AI systems to "allies and friends."
