RACINE COUNTY, Wis. — A big announcement for southeastern Wisconsin came Wednesday, as President Joe Biden joined leaders at Microsoft to celebrate a $3.3 billion investment in a new artificial intelligence (AI) data center.
With the project underway on what was supposed to be the Foxconn site, the president used battleground Wisconsin as a backdrop to compare his administration’s accomplishments to that of his predecessor and now presumed Republican nominee: Former President Donald Trump.
“Foxconn turned out to be just that — a con,” Biden told the crowd at Gateway Technical College in Sturtevant, Wis.
In some ways, Wednesday’s celebration felt like déjà vu as Biden made the most of his opportunity to contrast the scaled-back Foxconn project in the same spot where Trump promised it would be the “eighth wonder of the world” when he was in office.
“He and the administration promised a $10 billion investment by Foxconn to build a new manufacturing complex, create 13,000 new jobs,” Biden added. “Look what happened — they dug a hole with those golden shovels, and then they fell into it.”
The state’s Department of Workforce Development (DWD) confirmed as of Dec. 31, 2022, the most recent report available, Foxconn had created 1,029 eligible jobs under the contract.
Microsoft plans to make a $3.3 billion investment through 2026, and also partner with TitletownTech and the Green Bay Packers to create a first-of-its-kind AI innovation lab on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus.
The goal is to equip more than 100,000 Wisconsinites with AI skills by 2030.
“We are creating manufacturing jobs across the state of Wisconsin as we get steel from near Wausau, as we get chillers from La Crosse, as we get generators from near Madison,” Brad Smith, Microsoft’s vice chair and president, explained. “This is literally creating jobs across the state of Wisconsin.”
As far as impact, the White House estimated this latest investment will create 2,300 union construction jobs and 2,000 permanent jobs over time.
Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos praised local elected officials, economic development leaders and Microsoft itself for creating thousands of jobs but said Biden deserves little credit.
“Instead, much like he’s asked us to ignore how much we pay in groceries and gas every week to credit him for what he maintains is a strong economy, President Biden is now asking us to ignore their efforts so he can take all the credit in an invite-only reelection stunt,” Vos said in a statement.
Part of the projects will be made possible thanks to grants from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) after Milwaukee was designated as one of four new regional “workforce hubs” by the Biden administration last month.
A $500,000 grant from WEDC will help cover the cost of capital improvements for the Co-Innovation Lab at UW-Milwaukee, while TitletownTech will receive an additional $500,000 grant to open an office within the lab to connect with more entrepreneurs.
“If you want something made right, you’re going to make it in Wisconsin because here [in] the Badger State, our strength in this industry is built around the issue of innovation and work ethic of our people,” Gov. Tony Evers said.
According to White House officials, Wisconsin has received $6.9 billion from Biden’s “Investing in America” agenda, which includes just $1.06 to replace the Blatnik Bridge between Superior and Duluth, another $1.6 billion for internet access, and $811 million for clean water.