Microsoft On the Issues

Today, we introduced our newest US AI datacenter in Wisconsin—the largest and most sophisticated AI factory we’ve built. By early 2026, our first Wisconsin datacenter will be operational, creating hundreds of jobs, with additional AI datacenters already underway to expand the site’s capabilities. And we will build a second datacenter of similar size and scale—bringing our total investment in Wisconsin to more than $7 billion. These facilities feature hundreds of thousands of the world’s most powerful NVIDIA GPUs, billions of GBs of storage, and a hyper-optimized network with enough fiber cable to circle the globe 4.5 times. Advanced liquid cooling eliminates water use for 90% of the campus, sustainably powering AI training at an unprecedented scale. Beyond technology, our partnerships with 40+ local organizations have trained 114,000+ people in AI and digital skills and connected over 9,300 rural residents with reliable broadband. These investments show that leading means delivering—not just talking about the future of AI but building it right here in our communities. Read more in Brad Smith’s blog on the purpose and impact of these datacenters: https://lnkd.in/dTCvFdXi

Microsoft’s threat analysts and digital crimes specialists are leading efforts to track and understand the evolution of Cybercrime-as-a-Service (CaaS). By monitoring global trends and sharing insights, Microsoft helps organizations and individuals recognize new risks and strengthen their security strategies. Cybercrime-as-a-Service is changing how threat actors operate. Organized groups now use the same tools and practices as technology companies, making cybercrime more accessible and efficient. Specialized vendors sell packaged tools and services on encrypted platforms and dark web marketplaces. Phishing-as-a-Service kits can be rented for as little as fifty dollars per month, allowing anyone to launch attacks without technical expertise. Read more about the risks and what you can do to stay alert: https://msft.it/6041sNPm3

No single organization can solve climate challenges alone. We need public-private partnerships, peer-to-peer learning, and cross-sector alliances to create the market conditions and workforce pipelines that benefit the planet, communities, and businesses. In this issue of Sustainably Speaking, our CSO Melanie Nakagawa and Noelle Walsh, President of Microsoft Cloud Operations and Innovation, share how these principles come to life in Wisconsin at our new AI datacenter: 🔌Energy: Fully funding our datacenter’s energy needs by working with the local utility to ensure that we are responsible for all of the costs of energy and new related infrastructure to serve our datacenter operations and matching all fossil power with carbon-free sources, including a new 250 MW solar project and a $20M community fund launching in 2027.  💧Water: A closed-loop liquid cooling system recirculates water to cool over 90% of servers, keeping annual usage as low as a typical restaurant. 👥 Community impact: Creating jobs and launching tech training programs.  Across Microsoft, partners and teams are leading the way for a more sustainable digital future. Read the latest edition to learn how we’re building datacenters with sustainability and community front and center.

When used responsibly, AI opens new possibilities for creativity, connection, and safety. Unfortunately, some actors are misusing AI to create harmful content and threaten digital trust, putting individuals and communities at risk. Microsoft is taking a comprehensive approach to protect people from abusive AI-generated content. Through robust AI safety measures, collaboration across industries, advocating for new policies, and taking legal action, we’re working to prevent the misuse of our platforms and advancing online safety. Learn more about our commitments to safety, responsible AI, and protecting our users. https://msft.it/6042sLqoO

Cyber mercenaries are changing the landscape of digital risk, enabling sophisticated attacks that reach far beyond traditional targets. Their services are fueling a growing ecosystem where advanced intrusion capabilities are more accessible than ever. Research and academic institutions have become prime testing grounds for new attack techniques, making them a critical front line in the effort to protect innovation and safeguard sensitive information. The lessons learned here often shape the security posture of organizations everywhere. Addressing this challenge requires a united response. Collaboration across industry and government is essential to disrupt the market for cyber mercenary services and strengthen the resilience of our connected world.

AI is a powerful tool for local economic development, opening new doors for students, entrepreneurs, and workers. Through Microsoft TechSpark, we’re partnering with local leaders and nonprofits to expand digital skills, create jobs, and spark innovation, from workforce skilling in Eastern Kentucky to advanced manufacturing in Wisconsin. Since launch, TechSpark has helped secure over $700M+ in community funding and supported 65,000 people in building new career opportunities. These results show what’s possible when we listen deeply and invest in people who know their communities best. The 2025 TechSpark Impact report shows how AI can be a bridge to local prosperity, not a barrier. Learn more about this progress in the 2025 report: https://msft.it/6049sanMz

In the past year, the Copilot Voice system, part of Microsoft’s broader consumer Copilot service relaunch, underwent a Sensitive Uses and Emerging Technologies review to address the novel risks associated with its voice and audio capabilities. The review process involved extensive red teaming, risk identification, and mitigation efforts, ensuring the system's safe deployment. Additionally, the team developed transparency documentation to inform users about the AI feature's capabilities, limitations, and best practices. Learn about this case study in our 2025 Responsible AI Transparency Report. https://msft.it/6047svt5b

Rural hospitals provide vital healthcare services to communities across the United States. For many people, they are a lifeline. But denied insurance claims put pressure on already limited staff and threaten the stability of essential services, costing small facilities up to $330,000 a year to recover lost payments. A new AI-powered tool aims to help rural hospitals overcome the costly and time-consuming challenge of denied insurance claims. Developed by Microsoft Partners and rural health leaders through Microsoft’s Rural Health AI Innovation Lab, the Claims Denial Navigator aims to support hospitals in resolving denied claims more efficiently and recovering revenue faster. It’s part of Microsoft’s Rural Health Resilience Program, which equips essential healthcare organizations with technology and training to strengthen financial viability. We’re proud to stand with rural healthcare providers and help them stay focused on what matters most: caring for their communities. Learn more about how this tool is making a difference. https://msft.it/6049sQTal

Today, on European Day of Languages, we’re launching the LINGUA Open Call—an open invitation to accelerate multilingual AI research and data collection, with a focus on advancing digital inclusion for Europe’s low-resource languages. This initiative is part of our broader European Digital Commitments to support digital resilience, economic growth, and representation in AI, and is being launched in coordination with the APERTUS project led by EPFL and ETH Zürich , and in consultation with the Council of Europe. We are inviting proposals from nonprofits, NGOs, universities, research institutions, social enterprises, cultural organizations, and startups that help build high-quality speech and text datasets and advance digital inclusion for Europe’s low-resource languages. Applicants must be committed to producing fully open licensed datasets for text-to-text, speech-to-text, and text-to-speech applications. Selected projects will receive: ·        Up to $50,000 in funding for data collection activities. Larger scale projects requiring funding above 50,000 will be considered on a case-by-case basis, ·        Azure compute credits for up to two years, to support data-related computational needs such as processing, validation, and baseline experimentation, ·        Technical support and opportunities for research collaboration with Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab, EPFL & ETH Zurich, ·        Visibility through the Microsoft AI for Good Lab ecosystem and partner networks. At Microsoft, we believe technology should serve everyone. In the era of AI, that means ensuring it works in every language. Europe is home to more than 200 languages, yet most web content that trains today’s AI is in English, leaving many European languages poorly represented in the models that increasingly shape how we work and communicate. Modern AI models learn from online content, but when a language lacks digital presence, the model struggles to understand it—leading to more errors, less accuracy, and a loss of cultural nuance. To build inclusive AI, we must invest in the voices and data that reflect Europe’s full linguistic and cultural diversity. Submissions are due by November 11, 2025. Learn more and apply: https://lnkd.in/gE4a8MPK

Cybercrime is evolving into a global marketplace, with access brokers and cyber mercenaries making attacks easier and more profitable for threat actors. Stolen credentials remain the key enabler, fueling everything from fraud to ransomware. For example, Microsoft recently led a global operation to disrupt Lumma Stealer, a malware-as-a-service tool favored by hundreds of cybercriminals. It collects login data including passwords, credit cards, bank accounts, and cryptocurrency wallets, which is traded and reused to bypass security and escalate attacks quickly. This drives everything from fraud to ransomware, making credential protection more important than ever. Disrupting this cycle requires global collaboration. Governments, industry, and defenders must work together to share intelligence and strengthen defenses. Microsoft is focused on investing in intelligence, legal action, and partnerships to help secure the digital economy.