New York/Bonn, GERMANY (dpa-AFX) - The US technology company Microsoft
plans to organize an international partner conference in the German
city of Bonn in May.

The European edition of the international 'Microsoft AI Partner
Training Roadshow' will take place on May 22, the State Chancellery
for the city of Dusseldorf said on Friday, making the city in state
of North Rhine Westphalia the only venue in Europe.

Other international editions will take place in Tokyo in Japan,
Hyderabad, and Bengaluru in India, and Santa Clara in California in
the United States.

This is an excellent signal, North Rhine Westphalia Premier Hendrik
Wüst said on Friday during a visit to the company in Redmond near
Seattle in the US. 'North Rhine Westphalia is on its way to becoming
Europe's AI hotspot,' Wüst said.

A few weeks ago, Microsoft announced the construction of data centres
in the region worth billions of euros. A total of ?3.2 billion ($3.4
billion) is involved, with a focus on the Rhineland region.

Wüst's visit to Microsoft is part of a trip to the US lasting several
days. The focus was on artificial intelligence, defence policy and
the film industry.

The delegation is scheduled to return to North Rhine Westphalia later
Friday.


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