- Microsoft has invested billions across Europe in a bid to increase EU data center capacity by 40%
- The company is also helping to increase the region’s resilience amid the current geopolitical upheavals.
- Microsoft declares that it wants to earn the trust of Europeans by working hard
Amid ongoing allegations of anti-competitive behavior and antitrust investigations unfolding in at least six markets, Microsoft has given us an update on its European sovereignty work and the five core principles it established last year.
In 2025, the company declared that it would build a stronger cloud and AI ecosystem in Europe, ensure digital resilience amid risky geopolitics, protect European privacy, strengthen regional cybersecurity and boost economic competitiveness, but how has it fared so far?
Based on its own assessments, Microsoft appears to be making significant progress in its continental push as it strives to increase its European data center capacity by 40%.
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Microsoft says things are going well in Europe
In the past year alone, Microsoft has invested billions in new investments in Portugal (+$10 billion), Norway (+$6.2 billion) and the United Kingdom (+$30 billion), as well as the expected footprint of existing data centers in Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Poland and Switzerland.
Microsoft also noted that sovereignty means much more than data residency, recognizing current geopolitics and Europe’s desire to stay connected even amid ongoing and growing tensions.
That’s why, in government contracts, its Digital Resilience Pledge has become legally binding and why it launched a partnership with Germany’s Delos Cloud “to safeguard business continuity in Europe in times of crisis.”
In addition to its data privacy and cybersecurity efforts, Microsoft also claims to have contributed a little less directly to European economic competitiveness by supporting local GitHub creators and launching a project to “collect high-quality voice and text datasets for Europe’s underrepresented languages.”
“It cannot be trusted,” concluded EMEA President Samer Abu-Ltaif and EMEA Vice President and Deputy General Counsel EMEA Corporate Legal and External Affairs Jeff Bullwinkel. “We have to earn it with our actions, day by day.”
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