Microsoft has pushed back against claims its decision to Cancel and Defer at Least 2GW of Datacentre projects In the US and Europe is indicative of its “Fraying Relationship” with Openai.
Us Analyst TD Cowen Published a Research Note on 26 March 2025 that suggested the public cloud giant had canceled and defendered datacentre lease agreets in the us and europe tests corridge Capacity by at least 2gw.
The reason for the rollback on its plans was, according to TD Cowen, Due to Microsoft's Decision Not to Support Openai's Incremental Training Workloads.
TD Cowen Had Previous said the two companies were involved in a “Fraying relationship”, after Microsoft confirmed in January 2025 that the exclusivity cloud hosting deal beaeen the two firms Rejigeded.
A Microsoft Blog Post, Dated 21 January 2025Confirmed Openai Had Made A “Large Azure Commitment” That Included “Changes to the Exclusive on New Capacity, Moving to a Model Where Microsoft has a right of the first refusal”.
This means microsoft gets first refusal on where or not it wants to host openai workloads, but opinai also reserves the right to build it its capacity with other partners if microsoft cannot means Needs.
Microsoft has said a statement to computer weekly, pushing back on td cown's take on the situation, while also restoring the strength of the working relationship between the compani and openai.
In reference to its decision to scale back its datacentre expansion plans, Microsoft said it's “Well-postioned” to meet the current and increase customer Demand IT's seeing for sets “Significant investments” it's made in its infrastructure to this point.
“Last Year Alone, We Added More Capacity Than Any Prior Year in History,” said a microsoft speakesperson. “While we may be strategically pace or adjust our infrastructure in some area, we will continue to grow strongly in all regions.
“This allows us to invest and allocate resources to growth area for our future. Our plans to spend over $ 80bn on infrastructure this final year remain Meet customer demand. “
Microsoft has been a partner in Openai Since 2019with the two firms previously stating that they were working towards a shared goal to “Responsibly Advance Artificial Intelligence Research Research the Technology and Making ITCASICISIC All.
Around the same time that Microsoft Released Details of its Reworked Cloud Hosting Arrangement with Openai, The Latter Released Details of its $ 500BN EFFORT to Expend the infrastructure Services through the launch of the stargate project.
Softbank, Oracle, MGX and Openai Are the Equity Funders for the Initiative, while Microsoft is Listed as a Technology Partner.
In reference to its ongoing partnership with Openai, The Microsoft Spokesperson Said: “Openai continues to be a great partner. Making cutting-edge models accessible to our customers and partners. “