Microsoft has struck a $19.4 billion deal with Nebius Group NV to access over 100,000 Nvidia GB300 chips, aimed at enhancing its AI capabilities. This move is part of a broader strategy, committing over $33 billion to various neocloud providers amid a pressing shortage of AI data center capacity. “We are in very much land-grab mode in the AI space,” said Scott Guthrie, emphasizing the need for operational flexibility as Microsoft continues to expand its cloud services.