85% of Nscale’s $103B of contracts are with Microsoft and Anthropic

Microsoft opened its fourth cloud region in India, in Hyderabad, as part of a $20.5B investment in AI and cloud infrastructure. The facility supports advanced AI workloads and serves as a hub for Asia. Clients include Adani Group, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, and PB Pay. Microsoft aims to grow India's data-center capacity from 2GW to 12-14GW by 2035.

Microsoft launched its fourth cloud region in India, in Hyderabad, as part of a $20.5B investment. The company aims to expand cloud and AI infrastructure, citing India's growing data generation and need for increased data center capacity. Microsoft now has the largest hyperscale cloud presence in the country, with regions in Pune, Chennai, and Mumbai.

IREN announced $2.8B in new contracts, raising its annual revenue target to over $4B. It also completed Horizon 1 delivery for Microsoft. Shares rose 8% and 6% on the news. IREN's AI cloud business is growing, but it reported a $684M net loss in Q4 due to Bitcoin mining impairments. Management expects $4B in ARR by December 2027, with heavy capital spending. Analysts remain bullish, with a consensus 'Strong Buy' rating and a median price target of $77.

IFM Investors and AI Infrastructure Partnership, including BlackRock's GIP, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Abu Dhabi's MGX, have added Azure Capital to their advisory team for a bid on Stack Infrastructure's Asia-Pacific data centers, valued at over $28 billion. Blue Owl Capital, which owns Stack, is reviewing first-round offers but has not yet approved the auction's second stage.

Five news publishers, including The New York Times, filed a court brief accusing Microsoft and OpenAI of copyright infringement, citing internal messages describing their AI models' use of publishers' content as theft. The brief alleges copying at five stages, including data acquisition and training, and argues that fair use does not apply.

IREN's stock rose 21% after signing a $9.7B AI cloud computing deal with Microsoft, peaking at $73 before settling at $67.30. The agreement gives Microsoft access to Nvidia's GPUs for AI initiatives. Microsoft's stock also increased. IREN's CEO called it a validation of their AI Cloud services. Cipher Mining announced a $5.5B, 15-year lease with AWS for AI workloads, causing its stock to jump 22%.