Microsoft president and vice-chairman Brad Smith was clear about its commitment to the State on Monday.
“We have been consistent for four decades here, we will be consistent in the future,” he said. “I think my message is simple: Ireland can count on us.”
Smith was speaking after an event in Dublin that marked the multinational accepting IDA Ireland’s special recognition award for its contribution to the country’s economy in the past 40 years.
Microsoft has benefited hugely from its relationship with the State, which has become a bridge into the European market. And despite fears that the Trump administration’s plans to strongly encourage US companies to invest closer to home would hit Ireland, Smith reiterated that Microsoft planned to keep investing here and outside the US in general.
Since Donald Trump took office, there has been a general feeling that tech companies are bending the knee to the president. It has been a profoundly disappointing few weeks as those with the most power seemed to either cede it reluctantly and fall in line, or embrace Trump’s outlook and the make-America-great-again way.
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That has led to fears that investment here, which has helped take the Republic from a struggling economy to a regional digital hub, may be significantly hit by a pullback from the technology sector.
But perhaps there is some cause for optimism that it won’t be as bad as all that. On stage, the Microsoft vice-chairman spoke openly about how the company is committed to the State and by extension Europe. That includes Ukraine, with Microsoft helping Ukraine defend itself from cyberattacks and safeguard data since Russia began its invasion in 2022.
The Trump administration has made clear where it stands on Ukraine. Given the scenes last week at the White House, you would have thought that any company concerned about a Trump backlash would have steered clear of the topic of war in Ukraine, let alone seemed sympathetic to the country’s plight.
But Microsoft is a multinational with a significant business outside the US. It may be spending big in its home market – it plans to invest $80 billion (€76 billion) in artificial intelligence infrastructure this year, and more than half of that will be committed to US-based projects – but it also needs to be a global players. It needs to walk a delicate line between keeping governments around the world onside while not incurring the wrath of Trump closer to home.
