Microsoft has launched its own AI publishing company with a $2.5 billion commitment

Microsoft on Thursday announced a new operating business called Microsoft Frontier, which is focused on delivering successful AI deployments to enterprises using Microsoft’s existing AI tools. The project will be supported by an investment of $2.5 billion from Microsoft, in addition to 6,000 industry and engineering experts.

In a statement announcing the project, Microsoft’s chief business officer, Judson Althoff, pushed back against the advanced engineer (FDE) label often applied to such projects. “This goes beyond what has been described as advanced engineering,” Althoff wrote, “and will be the largest, most capable, results-driven engineering organization in the industry.”

However, the project bears a striking resemblance to a number of FDE-based AI projects announced in recent months. Just two days ago, Amazon Web Services announced a $1 billion internal commitment to its AI deployment project, clearly adopting the FDE model. Both OpenAI and Anthropic have launched joint ventures along similar lines, although these efforts also include outside capital from private equity firms.

Microsoft’s existing customer base will give the new effort a significant head start, as the company has already deployed engineers at most Fortune 500 companies. The announcement signals an early partnership with the London Stock Exchange Group, as well as Unilever, Land O’Lakes and Accenture.