News/Cloud
Microsoft adds Anthropic’s Claude models to Office 365 Copilot
Microsoft has added Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4 and Claude Opus 4.1 AI models to Microsoft 365 Copilot, marking the first time the company has expanded beyond OpenAI's models for its flagship productivity suite. This strategic shift reflects Microsoft's growing confidence in Anthropic's capabilities and signals a broader diversification strategy as the company seeks to offer customers the best AI models regardless of their origin. What you should know: Microsoft is integrating Anthropic's models into specific areas of Microsoft 365 Copilot while maintaining OpenAI as the primary foundation. Claude models are now available in Microsoft's Researcher agent and Copilot Studio, the...
read Sep 23, 2025OpenAI and partners add 5 new data centers to $500B Stargate project
OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank announced plans to build five new AI data centers across the United States as part of their $500 billion Stargate project, expanding the initiative launched by President Trump in January. The new facilities will bring the project's total data center capacity to nearly 7 gigawatts with over $400 billion in investment over the next three years, positioning the partnership to capture a significant portion of the rapidly expanding AI infrastructure market. What you should know: The five new data centers will be strategically distributed across multiple states to support the growing demand for AI computing power....
read Sep 19, 2025Oracle stock surges on reports of $20B AI deal with Meta
Oracle shares surged on reports that the company is in discussions with Meta about a potential $20 billion AI computing deal. The reported partnership would represent one of the largest enterprise AI infrastructure agreements to date, positioning Oracle as a major player in the rapidly expanding AI cloud services market. What you should know: The market responded enthusiastically to news of the potential mega-deal between Oracle and Meta.• Oracle's stock price spiked following reports of the $20 billion AI computing partnership discussions with Meta, the company behind Facebook and Instagram.• The deal would involve Oracle providing AI computing infrastructure and...
read Sep 18, 2025AI storage crisis pushes hard disk drive wait times to nearly a year
AI workloads are creating an unprecedented storage crisis, with ultra-high-capacity hard disk drives now facing wait times of nearly a year and Western Digital implementing immediate price increases across its entire HDD portfolio. The surge in AI inference services from hyperscale cloud providers like Google and Oracle is generating massive data volumes that are overwhelming global storage infrastructure, forcing the industry to reconsider traditional storage strategies. What you should know: The storage shortage is most severe for the largest capacity drives, creating a supply bottleneck that could persist well into 2026. 32TB and larger HDDs now have lead times exceeding...
read Sep 17, 2025Moody’s flags risks in Oracle’s massive $300B AI infrastructure bet
Moody's Ratings has flagged several potential risks in Oracle's recently signed $300 billion in AI contracts, primarily with OpenAI, though the credit rating agency stopped short of taking ratings action against the software giant. The warning highlights concerns about Oracle's heavy reliance on a small number of AI companies to fund its massive data center expansion, which Moody's considers "effectively one of, if not the world's largest, project financing." What you should know: Oracle's $300 billion contract windfall comes primarily from a five-year deal with OpenAI for computing power, representing one of the biggest cloud contracts ever signed. Oracle said...
read Sep 17, 2025Google Meet launches Ask Gemini AI for real-time meeting assistance
Google has introduced Ask Gemini, an AI assistant for Google Meet that can answer questions about meeting content and provide summaries of discussions participants may have missed. The feature initially launches for select Google Workspace customers and represents Google's effort to integrate AI-powered productivity tools directly into its video conferencing platform. What you should know: Ask Gemini can analyze meeting content in real-time and provide personalized assistance to participants without storing data after calls end. The AI assistant answers questions by referencing live captions, accessible Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, plus public websites. It can summarize what specific participants said,...
read Sep 17, 2025Workday acquires AI firm Sana for $1.1B to boost HR automation
Workday announced it will acquire AI firm Sana for approximately $1.1 billion, marking another significant consolidation move in the rapidly evolving HR software sector. The deal underscores how established HR platforms are aggressively pursuing AI capabilities to meet growing customer demands for automated workplace solutions, joining a wave of major acquisitions that have reshaped the industry landscape this year. The big picture: HR software companies are consolidating at breakneck speed as they race to integrate AI capabilities into their platforms. Private equity firm Thoma Bravo agreed to buy Workday rival Dayforce for $12.3 billion just last month. Paychex announced a...
read Sep 17, 2025Nvidia CEO invests £500M in UK cloud firm, calls Britain future AI superpower
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced a £500 million investment in British cloud computing firm NScale, declaring that "the UK is going to be an AI superpower." The investment comes as part of an £11 billion computing infrastructure push that Huang says will deliver 100 times the performance of Britain's fastest current supercomputer, positioning the UK as a major player in the global AI race. What you should know: Huang's investment represents a significant vote of confidence in Britain's AI capabilities at a time of intensifying geopolitical competition in artificial intelligence.• Nvidia is taking an equity stake in NScale and predicts...
read Sep 17, 2025Tencent Cloud shifts to Chinese AI chips amid $50B Nvidia standoff
Tencent Cloud has fully integrated Chinese AI chips into its computing infrastructure, marking another significant step in China's push for semiconductor self-sufficiency amid escalating U.S. export restrictions. The move positions Tencent as the latest major Chinese tech company to embrace domestic processors, while highlighting Beijing's broader strategy to reduce reliance on foreign semiconductors like those from Nvidia. What you should know: Tencent Cloud president Qiu Yuepeng announced the company had "fully adapted to mainstream domestic chips" within its AI computing infrastructure during the annual Global Digital Ecosystem Summit. The integration spans multiple domestic chip partnerships, with Tencent working to deploy...
read Sep 16, 2025CoreWeave secures $6.3B Nvidia deal with guaranteed cloud capacity buyback
CoreWeave has signed a $6.3 billion initial order with Nvidia, securing a deal where the AI chipmaker guarantees to purchase any cloud capacity not sold to customers. The agreement provides CoreWeave with crucial financial protection against potential declines in AI computing demand while cementing its position as a key Nvidia cloud partner. What you should know: The deal extends through April 2032 and builds on CoreWeave's existing partnership with Nvidia from April 2023.• CoreWeave operates AI data centers in the U.S. and Europe, offering access to Nvidia's highly sought-after GPUs used for training and running large AI models.• Shares of...
read Sep 15, 2025Oracle stock soars 40% after $300B OpenAI cloud deal
OpenAI has signed a $300 billion contract with Oracle to purchase computing power over the next five years, marking one of the largest cloud deals in history. The agreement, which begins in 2027, represents a massive bet on AI's continued growth while highlighting the extraordinary financial risks both companies are taking in the artificial intelligence race. What you should know: The deal requires unprecedented power and financial commitments that could reshape both companies' futures. The contract will consume 4.5 gigawatts of power capacity—enough electricity to supply about four million homes. OpenAI will owe Oracle an average of $60 billion annually...
read Sep 12, 2025OpenAI signs $300B Oracle cloud deal for massive Stargate AI project
OpenAI has signed a $300 billion cloud computing agreement with Oracle, marking one of the largest cloud contracts in history. The five-year deal, which begins in 2027, positions OpenAI to secure massive computing resources as part of the broader $500 billion Stargate AI infrastructure initiative, while providing Oracle with unprecedented revenue visibility in the rapidly expanding AI market. What you should know: The agreement forms part of Stargate, an ambitious $500 billion AI infrastructure project that includes building 4.5 gigawatts of new data center capacity. OpenAI will purchase computing power from Oracle starting in 2027, providing the AI company with...
read Sep 10, 2025Musk, meet dust: Oracle’s Ellison becomes world’s richest person as AI boom lifts stock 40%
Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, has surpassed Elon Musk as the world's richest person, with his wealth reaching $393 billion compared to Musk's $385 billion. The shift comes after Oracle shares soared more than 40% following the company's surprisingly optimistic outlook for its cloud infrastructure business and AI deals, while Tesla stock has declined amid investor concerns over the Trump administration's EV policy changes. What drove the change: Oracle's stock surge directly boosted Ellison's net worth, which is closely tied to the company he co-founded five decades ago. Oracle projected that revenue from its cloud business will jump 77% this...
read Sep 9, 2025CoreWeave launches $1B+ venture fund to back AI startups
CoreWeave, a cloud infrastructure company specializing in AI workloads, has launched a venture capital arm called CoreWeave Ventures to invest in AI-focused startups. The announcement sent the company's stock surging 4.67% as investors see the move as a strategic expansion that could create a pipeline benefiting both earnings and future demand for computing power. What you should know: CoreWeave Ventures offers startups a comprehensive package beyond traditional funding, combining capital investment with technical resources and market access. The venture arm provides direct capital investment, compute for equity arrangements, and access to CoreWeave's AI-optimized cloud and production-grade testing clusters. Startups also...
read Sep 9, 2025Microsoft plays the field, plans to add Anthropic’s Claude to Copilot features
Microsoft reportedly plans to start using Anthropic's Claude models to power some Copilot features in Office 365 applications, marking a potential shift away from its exclusive reliance on OpenAI technology. The move suggests growing tensions between Microsoft and OpenAI as the companies navigate disputes over OpenAI's restructuring plans, while also highlighting Microsoft's assessment that Claude 4 Sonnet outperforms competing models in specific use cases. What you should know: Microsoft currently uses OpenAI's technology to power most AI features in Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint, but plans to announce the integration of Anthropic models "in the coming weeks."• The company will...
read Sep 9, 2025Cisco launches AI-powered data fabric to unify enterprise analytics
Cisco has launched an AI-driven data fabric powered by Splunk, designed to help enterprises unify and analyze distributed business and machine data. The new architecture, unveiled at Splunk .conf25 in Boston, integrates the Cisco Data Fabric with Splunk Federated Search for Snowflake to enable AI-powered insights from machine-generated telemetry across multiple platforms. What you should know: The Cisco Data Fabric creates a unified framework that connects disparate data sources for comprehensive analytics and AI applications. Built using Splunk Enterprise and Splunk Cloud Platform capabilities, the fabric federates data from cloud, on-premises, and platforms like Snowflake and Splunk Indexes. The system...
read Sep 8, 2025Microsoft signs $17.4B AI infrastructure deal with Nebius Group
Nebius Group has signed a $17.4 billion deal to provide Microsoft with GPU infrastructure capacity over five years, marking one of the largest AI infrastructure partnerships to date. The agreement underscores the massive capital investments tech giants are making to secure computing power for generative AI development, with Nebius shares surging 33% in after-hours trading following the announcement. What you should know: This represents a significant strategic partnership between Microsoft and Nebius, an AI infrastructure specialist formerly known as Yandex's international business.• The five-year agreement is valued at $17.4 billion, positioning it among the largest AI infrastructure deals in the...
read Sep 5, 2025Google Cloud survey finds AI delivers on customer service while ROI drops
The artificial intelligence honeymoon period appears to be ending. After years of breathless predictions about AI transforming every aspect of business, a new survey from Google Cloud reveals that executives are taking a more measured approach to evaluating their AI investments—and the results are decidedly mixed. The survey, which polled nearly 3,500 senior leaders globally from companies with at least 100 employees and $10 million in annual revenue, focused exclusively on organizations that have already deployed generative AI systems. Generative AI refers to artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT that can create text, images, code, and other content based on prompts,...
read Sep 3, 2025Apple tests Google’s Gemini AI for Siri upgrade
Apple and Google have reached a formal agreement for Apple to evaluate and test Google's Gemini AI model to potentially power an upgraded version of Siri currently in development. The deal comes as Apple works to modernize its voice assistant for the AI era while also developing an AI-powered search feature called "World Knowledge Answers" targeted for release next year. What you should know: Apple is testing multiple AI models for Siri's upgrade, including its own models alongside options from Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic. The formal agreement with Google allows Apple to evaluate Gemini specifically for the voice assistant project,...
read Sep 2, 2025Kiwis and clouds: AWS launches New Zealand region with NZ$7.5B investment
Amazon Web Services has officially launched its Asia Pacific (New Zealand) Region, allowing organizations to store data and run applications within the country for the first time. The infrastructure investment represents Amazon's largest commitment to New Zealand's digital economy, with plans to spend NZ$7.5 billion over 15 years while creating over 1,000 jobs annually and contributing an estimated NZ$10.8 billion to the country's GDP. What you should know: The new AWS region begins operations with three Availability Zones located in the Auckland area, each consisting of one or more data centers designed to improve redundancy and resilience. Organizations can now...
read Sep 2, 2025Chinese AI chip maker Cambricon hits $81B valuation despite revenue risks
Cambricon Technologies, a Beijing-based AI chip designer, has seen its stock price soar to a market valuation of approximately $81.2 billion, surpassing established companies like MediaTek and SMIC despite generating significantly lower annual revenue. The meteoric rise reflects investor enthusiasm for China's domestic AI hardware ecosystem, though questions remain about the sustainability of its growth amid heavy client concentration and geopolitical pressures. The big picture: Cambricon's financial turnaround has been dramatic, generating RMB28.81 billion (approximately $4.03 billion) in revenue during the first half of 2025—more than 40 times the figure from a year earlier. The company also achieved profitability with...
read Sep 1, 2025Alibaba shares surge 19% as cloud growth and AI chip development fuel rally
Alibaba's Hong Kong-listed shares surged more than 19% on Monday following strong quarterly results driven by its cloud computing division and reports of new AI chip development. The rally represents the stock's highest level since March, as investors respond positively to the company's accelerating cloud growth and strategic AI investments that position it to compete with tech giants like Microsoft and Google. What you should know: Alibaba's cloud computing unit delivered impressive growth that exceeded previous quarters and fueled investor confidence. Cloud revenue jumped 26% annually, marking an acceleration from the previous quarter's growth rate. AI-related product revenue "maintained triple-digit...
read Sep 1, 2025Techno Digital opens $175M AI-ready data center in Chennai
Techno Digital, the digital infrastructure arm of Techno Electric and Engineering Company Limited, has opened a 36MW AI-ready hyperscale data center in Chennai with a $175 million investment, marking a significant expansion of India's digital infrastructure capabilities. The facility is part of the company's ambitious $1 billion commitment to building sustainable, future-ready digital infrastructure across the country, positioning Chennai as a strategic hub for AI, cloud computing, and 5G-driven enterprise solutions. What you should know: The data center spans 200,000 square feet at SIPCOT IT Park in Siruseri, offering hosting capacity for over 2,400 high-density racks with flexible power densities...
read Sep 1, 2025Open up and say “AI”: New stethoscope can detect 3 heart conditions in 15 seconds
Doctors at Imperial College London have developed an AI-powered stethoscope that can diagnose three major heart conditions—heart failure, heart valve disease, and atrial fibrillation—in just 15 seconds. The breakthrough technology represents the first major upgrade to the traditional stethoscope since its invention in 1816, potentially transforming early cardiac diagnosis by detecting subtle heart problems that human ears cannot perceive. What you should know: The AI stethoscope analyzes heartbeat patterns and blood flow while simultaneously taking an ECG, sending data to cloud-based algorithms for instant analysis. The device, about the size of a playing card and manufactured by Eko Health, a...
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