Shares of Sakura Internet surged as much as 20.2% on 3rd April after Microsoft said it has started talks with the Japanese cloud company and SoftBank to build artificial intelligence infrastructure in Japan.

Microsoft announced that it will spend 10 billion yen in Japan in the years 2026-2029 to construct AI infrastructure, enhance cybersecurity and train 1 million engineers and developers by 2030.

Sakura Internet, a company that offers internet infrastructure services with local data centres and Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank Corp. will collaborate with Microsoft to offer AI computing capacity, including graphics processing units, in Japan.

The news was announced when Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith made a visit to Japan, where he met Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

Smith reported that the investment comes at a time when cloud and AI services are on the increase in Japan. Microsoft, in its AI Diffusion Report, estimates that one in five working-age individuals in the country uses generative AI tools compared to one in six globally.