SAO PAULO, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Microsoft ( MSFT ) on

Thursday pledged to invest 14.7 billion reais ($2.70 billion) in

Brazil over three years to enhance its cloud infrastructure and

artificial intelligence (AI) in Latin America's largest economy.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

The amount is the largest-ever investment to be announced at

once in Brazil by Microsoft ( MSFT ), which said massive adoption of AI

could add as much as 4.2 percentage points to Brazil's economic

growth by the end of the decade.

ADDITIONAL CONTEXT

The investments are part of the broader "Microsoft Mais

Brasil" program disclosed by the U.S. tech giant in 2020 to

reinforce its long-term commitment to the South American nation.

The company said it will expand its cloud and AI

infrastructure in several datacenters in Sao Paulo state and

offer AI training to some 5 million people over the next three

years.

KEY QUOTES

"We are committed to supporting the AI ​​transformation in

Brazil and ensuring it benefits everyone," Microsoft ( MSFT ) Chief

Executive Satya Nadella said.

Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin said the investment

proves the country can be a global AI protagonist, and

emphasized the renewable energy supply available in Brazil to

power datacenters.

($1 = 5.4376 reais)