RACINE, WI — President Joe Biden will travel to Racine, Wisconsin Wednesday to announce a $3.3 billion investment by Microsoft to build a new artificial intelligence (AI) data center in Racine.
The project will create 2,300 union construction jobs and 2,000 permanent jobs over time, Biden promises.
Microsoft will also provide skilling opportunities for thousands more Wisconsinites in the digital economy, according to the Biden administration.
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“The data center will be built on the same land as a failed $10 billion investment from Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn six years ago, which left behind Wisconsin residents and workers,” the White House said.
“President Biden promised that unlike his predecessor, he wouldn’t leave communities like Racine behind.”
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In 2018, the Trump administration touted a $10 billion investment by Foxconn that would purportedly create 13,000 manufacturing jobs in Racine.
More than 100 homes and farms were bulldozed to make way for the manufacturing plant and more than $500 million in taxpayer dollars was invested to prepare the site.
But Foxconn abandoned plans to manufacture LCD screens in the state and created only a fraction of the promised jobs; fewer than 520 people, and spending $300 million, according to the Washington Post.
Biden’s trip to Wisconsin Wednesday marks the fourth visit this year to the key swing state, which he narrowly won in 2020.
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