Company vice chair and president Brad Smith shared the news in a blog post which aimed to reassure European customers that recent US government actions will not affect the technology giant’s services or data security, as cloud companies cited US actions like adding tariffs on the UK, as just one of the reasons to stop using US cloud providers and switch to alternatives.
“Given recent geopolitical volatility, we recognise that European governments likely will consider additional options,” Smith stated.
“Some of these may involve public financing to support European home-grown offerings. We recognise the importance of a diversified technology ecosystem, and we are committed to collaborating with European participants across the tech ecosystem.”
He added: “Going forward our European data centre operations and their boards will be overseen by a European board of directors that consists exclusively of European nationals and operates under European law.
“In the unlikely event we are ever ordered by any government anywhere in the world to suspend or cease cloud operations in Europe, we are committing that Microsoft will promptly and vigorously contest such a measure using all legal avenues available, including by pursuing litigation in court.”
Smith continued: “By including a new European Digital Resilience Commitment in all of our contracts with European national governments and the European Commission, we will make this commitment legally binding on Microsoft Corporation and all its subsidiaries.”
Looking ahead, Microsoft revealed it will work with European partners to ensure operational continuity, even in the event of legal challenges.
Smith concluded: “We are already enabling our partners in France and Germany to do this for the Bleu and Delos data centres, and we will pursue arrangements for our public cloud data centres in Europe.
“We will store back-up copies of our code in a secure repository in Switzerland, and we will provide our European partners with the legal rights needed to access and use this code if needed for this purpose.”
The move follows Microsoft reportedly cancelling multiple data centre leases across the United States, signalling a potential slowdown in AI-related infrastructure expansion.
According to industry analysts, the tech giant has walked away from leases totalling several hundred megawatts (MW) with at least two private data centre operators, while also pulling back on planned international investments.
RELATED STORIES
Nokia to supply Microsoft’s data centre networks
Microsoft boosts data centre presence to Western Australia
