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Microsoft to Invest $700 Million to Boost Poland's Cybersecurity

Microsoft's Vice Chair and President, Brad Smith (L) and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (R) react during a press conference following their meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Warsaw, Poland, 17 February 2025. EPA/LESZEK SZYMANSKI
Microsoft's Vice Chair and President, Brad Smith (L) and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (R) react during a press conference following their meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Warsaw, Poland, 17 February 2025. EPA/LESZEK SZYMANSKI
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Microsoft to Invest $700 Million to Boost Poland's Cybersecurity

Microsoft's Vice Chair and President, Brad Smith (L) and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (R) react during a press conference following their meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Warsaw, Poland, 17 February 2025. EPA/LESZEK SZYMANSKI
Microsoft's Vice Chair and President, Brad Smith (L) and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (R) react during a press conference following their meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Warsaw, Poland, 17 February 2025. EPA/LESZEK SZYMANSKI

Microsoft plans to invest an additional 700 million dollars in Poland to improve Polish cybersecurity in cooperation with the country's armed forces, the company's president said on Monday without elaborating.
In a joint press conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Microsoft President Brad Smith said the investment would be for a second phase of the already completed $1 billion Polish data center project announced in 2020.
The data center was opened in 2023, providing cloud services to businesses and government institutions.

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Microsoft Pledges to Protect European Operations, Unveils Data Center Expansion

A Microsoft logo is pictured on a store in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, January 25, 2021. (Reuters)
A Microsoft logo is pictured on a store in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, January 25, 2021. (Reuters)
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Microsoft Pledges to Protect European Operations, Unveils Data Center Expansion

A Microsoft logo is pictured on a store in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, January 25, 2021. (Reuters)
A Microsoft logo is pictured on a store in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, January 25, 2021. (Reuters)

Microsoft pledged Wednesday to fight any US government order to halt data center operations in Europe as it sought to soothe concerns among European customers that trans-Atlantic tensions would lead to service disruptions.

The company's president, Brad Smith, said it's not something that officials are talking about in Washington, D.C. but it is a “real concern” for Microsoft's customers across Europe, which include governments.

President Donald Trump has stoked tensions between the US and Europe with his tariff-fueled trade war, and alarmed European leaders with policy changes, including pausing intelligence sharing with Ukraine, that throw into doubt his administration's commitment to the trans-Atlantic relationship, The AP news reported.

Smith, speaking at an event in Brussels, tried to allay concerns as he announced that the company was expanding data center operations across Europe.

“What we want Europeans to know is that they can count on us,” he said in a speech.

“In the unlikely event we are ever ordered by any government anywhere in the world to suspend or cease cloud operations in Europe, we are committing that Microsoft will promptly and vigorously contest such a measure using all legal avenues available, including by pursuing litigation in court,” Smith wrote in a Wednesday blog post.

He noted that Microsoft has experience fighting lawsuits from the previous Trump administration as well as from former President Barack Obama’s administration.

“If we ever find ourselves losing we will put in place business continuity arrangements” that include storing computer code in Switzerland that European partners can access, he said.

Microsoft is making five digital commitments to Europe, including increasing its data center capacity by 40 in 16 countries over the next two years, Smith said. The expansion will cost tens of billions of dollars annually. Smith declined to be more specific about the cost when asked by reporters.

The expansion comes amid calls for Europe to assert tech and data sovereignty by weaning itself off reliance from big US cloud data service providers, including Microsoft, Amazon and, to a lesser extent, Google.

“Given recent geopolitical volatility, we recognize that European governments likely will consider additional options,” and Microsoft is committed to collaborating with European companies, Smith said.