Microsoft bases search engine development in Norway

"The global centre for our enterprise search R&D will be done here from Norway," Ballmer told reporters after meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in Oslo.

The move was made possible by Microsoft’s recent purchase of Norwegian company Fast Search & Transfer for 6.6 billion kroner ($1.2 billion, €836 million), he said.

"We now have a significant research laboratory here in Norway… with the acquisition of Fast," which operates in Europe, the United States, Asia, Australia and the Middle East, he said.

Microsoft, which currently employs 300 people at three Norwegian centres in Oslo, Trondheim and Tromsoe, will hire another 50 people in the Scandinavian country, he added.

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