MOUNT PLEASANT, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith, a Milwaukee native, said Thursday, Sept. 18 that the company is finalizing construction of what he called the world’s most powerful AI datacenter in Mount Pleasant. The $3.3 billion project is expected to be operational in early 2026.

The company will also reportedly spend another $4 billion to build a second facility of similar scale within three years, bringing its total Wisconsin investment to more than $7 billion.

The Mount Pleasant site will use hundreds of thousands of NVIDIA GPUs to train advanced AI models, Smith said. More than 90% of its operations will rely on a closed-loop liquid cooling system, with air cooling used only on the hottest days to reduce water consumption.

Construction has employed more than 3,000 workers at peak activity. Once complete, the first facility will support about 500 full-time jobs, eventually growing to 800 after the second is built, according to Smith.

Microsoft is also partnering with Gateway Technical College to launch Wisconsin’s first Datacenter Academy and with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on an AI Co-Innovation Lab. Smith said both programs are designed to train students and help local companies apply artificial intelligence.

In touting the benefits of Microsoft's new investment, Smith said, "Mount Pleasant isn’t just becoming a hub for AI -- it’s becoming a blueprint for how innovation can serve everyone."