AI startup Perplexity inked a $750 million deal with Microsoft Corp. to use its Azure cloud service amid a legal feud with Perplexity’s longtime cloud partner, Amazon.com Inc.

By Deborah Mary Sophia, Aditya Soni and Stephen Nellis Jan 28 (Reuters) - Microsoft said on Wednesday it had spent a record amount on artificial intelligence in the last quarter and posted slower cloud-computing growth,

OpenAI and Microsoft have a reconfigured relationship. The software giant revealed just how much OpenAI is driving its RPO.

With its newest AI chip, Microsoft plans "wider customer availability" after its initial product was only used for internal projects.

As Microsoft spends up, it's getting slightly less profitable in the cloud. The company had a 67% cloud gross margin as of the December quarter, versus 68% as of the September quarter and 70% as of a year earlier.

Microsoft is heading into its earnings report this week facing what one analyst calls a "prove it" moment, with investors looking for signs that its massive AI bet is translating into sustained cloud growth.

AI-powered search engine Perplexity has signed a three year $750 million cloud computing agreement with Microsoft, reports Bloomberg. This is the first cloud agreement Perplexity has signed outside of Amazon Web Services (AWS), of which it has a long-term partnership.

Microsoft’s More Personal Computing division was the only business unit to post a revenue decline this quarter.

Microsoft will provide Azure cloud service offerings to support the Air Force Cloud One program and its users.

Microsoft’s big financial bet on artificial intelligence got even bigger in the December quarter, but it also showed continued signs… Read More