Microsoft will utilize Lumen Technologies’ network equipment to enhance its AI workload capacity, the companies announced on Wednesday, as Microsoft seeks to meet increasing demand at its data centers.
In April, Microsoft reported that a shortage of data center infrastructure necessary for deploying AI models was limiting its ability to fully exploit the AI boom.
Microsoft, which has gained an early lead in the AI sector through its investment in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, has been investing billions of dollars in cloud infrastructure to maintain its competitive edge over Alphabet’s Google and Amazon.com.
As part of the new agreement, Lumen Technologies will use Microsoft’s Azure cloud services to reduce costs. The switch to Azure is expected to improve Lumen’s cash flow by over $20 million in the next 12 months, aiding the company’s turnaround efforts after restructuring its debt in March.
Lumen had $18.59 billion in long-term debt as of March 31, according to its latest quarterly earnings report.
