Microsoft Vice Chairman and President Brad Smith (L) and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi pose before their meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo, April 3, 2026.
Kazuhiro Nogi | Afp | Getty Images
Actions of Sakura Internet jumped up to 20.2% on Friday after Microsoft said it has started discussions with the Japanese cloud company and SoftBank to develop artificial intelligence infrastructure in Japan.
Microsoft announced plans to invest $10 billion in Japan between 2026 and 2029 to build AI infrastructure, strengthen cybersecurity, and train 1 million engineers and developers by 2030.
Sakura Internet, which provides Internet infrastructure services using domestic data centers, and Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank Corp. will partner with Microsoft to provide AI computing resources, including graphics processing units located in Japan.
The announcement was made during a visit to Japan by Microsoft Vice President and Chairman Brad Smith, who met with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
Smith said the investment comes as demand for cloud and AI services increases in Japan. About one in five working-age people in the country use generative AI tools, compared to a global average of about one in six, according to Microsoft’s AI Diffusion Report.
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The partnership will enable data processing in Japan and support the development of advanced AI systems such as large national language models, Microsoft said in a statement.
SoftBank and Microsoft Japan are also discussing a joint solution that would allow Microsoft Azure customers to use SoftBank’s AI computing platform.
Actions of Softbank Group were up 0.22% in Friday trading, while SoftBank Corp. increased by 1.02%
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Additionally, Microsoft will partner with five other major Japanese IT companies, including NTT Data Corp.,NEC, Fujitsu And Hitachito train 1 million AI professionals by 2030.
