Microsoft to give Europe multifaceted boost against backdrop of Trump tariffs

Microsoft's Brad Smith has outlined five pillars as part of its “European digital commitments” that set out how the Windows-maker will interact with Europe in the coming years. Perhaps the biggest part of the announcement is that Microsoft is going to boost its European data center capacity by 40% over the next two years, with data center operations increasing in 16 European nations.

The five pillars outlined by Microsoft are as follows:

1. We will help build a broad AI and cloud ecosystem across Europe
2. We will uphold Europe’s digital resilience even when there is geopolitical volatility
3. We will continue to protect the privacy of European data
4. We will always help protect and defend Europe’s cybersecurity
5. We will help strengthen Europe’s economic competitiveness, including for open source

A big talking point in recent years is where your data is being hosted. With rules like GDPR in the EU, this discussion has evolved from a mere nice-to-have to a legal necessity in some cases. To this end, Microsoft is establishing a European board of directors to oversee data center operations in Europe.

The board will be made up exclusively of European nationals and will operate under European law. With fractures between the EU and the US appearing over tariffs, Microsoft said this move will strengthen Europe’s digital resilience. It also said in the unlikely event that it’s forced to stop cloud operations in Europe, it will “promptly and vigorously contest such a measure using all legal avenues available, including by pursuing litigation in court.”

The other pillars will see Microsoft reinforce European data privacy through the EU Data Boundary project and security measures like Confidential Compute. It will bolster cybersecurity on the continent through a dedicated deputy Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and actively engage with European cybersecurity regulations like the upcoming Cyber Resilience Act (CRA). Finally, it will boost the EU’s economic competitiveness by providing open access to its AI and cloud platform.

Source: Microsoft