Microsoft winds down Oracle AI computing rental deal, report says

Microsoft is ending an arrangement to rent artificial intelligence computing capacity from Oracle while reviewing cloud partnerships worth billions of dollars, according to a November 6 media report citing people familiar with the matter.

The report said Microsoft had declined to renew its contract and had spent recent months switching off rented Oracle capacity. That capacity had become less useful as Microsoft's requirements changed, with the Oracle hardware relying on older Nvidia chips, according to the report.

In afternoon trading on November 6, Oracle's stock was down nearly 3%, while Microsoft's shares were largely unchanged. Both had faced pressure following a Democratic midterm election sweep, amid concerns that closer scrutiny of new data centers could constrain AI industry expansion.

Separately, AI cloud provider IREN said it had postponed some infrastructure deliveries because Microsoft asked for network design changes. IREN moved its target for putting more than $4 billion of annualized revenue capacity into operation from year-end to January. It said that timing could slip further, to late February.

Neither Microsoft nor Oracle immediately provided a response to requests for comment.