Biden to announce $3.3bn AI center in Wisconsin
Good morning,
Joe Biden is set to visit the battleground state of Wisconsin today where he is expected to unveil a $3.3 billion Microsoft AI center.
Biden’s trip to Racine will not only mark his fourth visit to Wisconsin this year but will also contrast the president from Donald Trump, who six years ago promised a Foxconn factory at the same location which never happened.
As Biden gears up for his upcoming trip, Trump’s lawyers appears to have scored a win after federal judge Aileen Cannon indefinitely suspended the former president’s Mar-a-Lago documents trial in Florida on Tuesday. Cannon’s ruling that the case is not yet ready to take before a jury serves in the favor of Trump, who has been trying to delay his criminal cases in hopes of winning the presidential election and appointing a loyalist attorney general who could help drop the charges.
Here are other developments in US politics:
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House Republicans are set to hold a hearing this morning over antisemitism accusations in K-12 schools.
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Kamala Harris plans to travel to Philadelphia this afternoon for a campaign event.
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The Biden administration has paused a weapons shipment to Israel amid concerns of Israel’s Rafah invasion.
Key events
With Joe Biden’s upcoming visit, it is important to note that Donald Trump once touted the Foxconn location at Racine, Wisconsin, as the “eighth wonder of the world”.
In 2018, Trump spoke at a ceremonial groundbreaker for the factory which never happened, saying: “As Foxconn has discovered, there is no better place to build, hire and grow than right here in the United States.”
However, in 2021, Foxconn largely abandoned the promised $10bn factory. In an updated deal with Wisconsin reported by Reuters at the time, Foxconn said it was going to reduce its planned investments to $672m and had planned on reducing the jobs from 13,000 to 1,454.
Here are some more details on Joe Biden’s upcoming announcement in Racine, Wisconsin later today:
The AI datacenter is set to construct 2,300 union construction jobs and 2,000 permanent jobs.
Microsoft also plans to provide “skilled opportunities for thousands more Wisconsinites in the digital economy,” the White House said.
Specifically, the tech giant will partner with Gateway Technical College to develop a datacenter academy that trains 1,000 Wisconsinites for datacenter and STEM roles by 2030, and will employ up to 2,000 people in permanent roles at its Racine facility, the White House added.
In a statement released ahead of Joe Biden’s visit to Wisconsin later today, the White House took a jab at Donald Trump’s former administration and said:
Six years ago, the prior administration touted a $10 billion investment by Foxconn that never materialized – now Microsoft will build a new AI datacenter on the same land, powering industries of the future in Wisconsin.
Today, president Biden will travel to Racine, Wisconsin – the same location as the failed Foxconn investment that the prior administration visited six years ago – to showcase a community at the heart of his commitment to invest in places that have been historically overlooked or failed by the last administration’s policies.”
Biden to announce $3.3bn AI center in Wisconsin
Good morning,
Joe Biden is set to visit the battleground state of Wisconsin today where he is expected to unveil a $3.3 billion Microsoft AI center.
Biden’s trip to Racine will not only mark his fourth visit to Wisconsin this year but will also contrast the president from Donald Trump, who six years ago promised a Foxconn factory at the same location which never happened.
As Biden gears up for his upcoming trip, Trump’s lawyers appears to have scored a win after federal judge Aileen Cannon indefinitely suspended the former president’s Mar-a-Lago documents trial in Florida on Tuesday. Cannon’s ruling that the case is not yet ready to take before a jury serves in the favor of Trump, who has been trying to delay his criminal cases in hopes of winning the presidential election and appointing a loyalist attorney general who could help drop the charges.
Here are other developments in US politics:
-
House Republicans are set to hold a hearing this morning over antisemitism accusations in K-12 schools.
-
Kamala Harris plans to travel to Philadelphia this afternoon for a campaign event.
-
The Biden administration has paused a weapons shipment to Israel amid concerns of Israel’s Rafah invasion.