Microsoft inks $9.7 billion cloud-capacity pact with IREN to ease AI compute shortages

Microsoft agreed to spend $9.7 billion over five years with data-center operator IREN to secure Nvidia-powered compute and ease an AI-capacity crunch that has constrained growth. The arrangement, which includes about $5.8 billion of equipment sourced via Dell and phased Nvidia GB300 deployments through 2026 at IREN’s 750-megawatt Texas campus, lets Microsoft expand without building new facilities or locking up additional power. IREN shares jumped as much as 25% to a record; Dell also ticked higher. The deal highlights how “neocloud” providers such as IREN, CoreWeave and Nebius are capitalizing on demand for accelerators to run models like ChatGPT. Microsoft, which recently inked a $17.4 billion capacity pact with Nebius, is prepaying IREN, helping finance the Dell order; the contract can be terminated if IREN misses delivery milestones. Separately, AI cloud startup Lambda said it reached a multibillion-dollar agreement with Microsoft to deploy Nvidia-based infrastructure.

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