Lambda Secures Multi-Billion Dollar AI Infrastructure Deal with Microsoft

Lambda inks multi-billion-dollar AI infrastructure deal with Microsoft | TechCrunch

Cloud-computing company Lambda deepened its relationship with Microsoft through a sizable AI infrastructure deal. Nvidia-backed Lambda announced it struck a multi-billion-dollar deal with Microsoft on Monday to deploy tens of thousands of Nvidia GPUs, according to a press release. The exact size of the deal was not disclosed. Some of these GPUs will be Nvidia GB300 NVL72 systems, which were announced earlier this year and began shipping in the last few months. "It's great to watch the Microsoft and Lambda teams working together to deploy these massive AI supercomputers," said Stephen Balaban, CEO of Lambda, in the company's press release. "We've been working with Microsoft for more than eight years, and this is a phenomenal next step in our relationship." Microsoft opened its first Nvidia GB300 NVL72 cluster in October. Companies like Lambda, which was founded years before the current AI boom in 2012 and has raised $1.7 billion in venture dollars, are seeing strong demand as companies continue to gobble up AI infrastructure and compute. This announcement comes just hours after Microsoft announced a $9.7 billion deal for AI cloud capacity with IREN, an Australian data center business. Earlier today, OpenAI announced that it had struck a $38 billion cloud computing deal with Amazon to buy cloud services over the next seven years. The AI company also allegedly inked a $300 billion deal with Oracle for cloud compute in September too. AWS reported it was on track for its best year, in terms of operating income, in three years in its third-quarter earnings results last week. This department of Amazon has collected $33 billion in sales so far this year. "AWS is growing at a pace we haven't seen since 2022, re-accelerating to 20.2% year-over-year," Andy Jassy, the president and CEO of Amazon, said in the company's earnings announcement. "We continue to see strong demand in AI and core infrastructure, and we've been focused on accelerating capacity -- adding more than 3.8 gigawatts in the past 12 months." TechCrunch reached out to Lambda for more information regarding deal structure and size.

Lambda, Microsoft agree to multibillion-dollar AI infrastructure deal with Nvidia chips

The agreement comes as Lambda benefits from surging consumer demand for AI-powered services, including AI chatbots and assistants, CEO Stephen Balaban told CNBC's "Money Movers" on Monday. "We're in the middle of probably the largest technology buildout that we've ever seen," Balaban said. "The industry is going really well right now, and there's just a lot of people who are using ChatGPT and Claude and the different AI services that are out there." Balaban said the partnership will continue the two companies' long-term relationship, which goes back to 2018. A specific dollar amount was not disclosed in the deal announcement.

Microsoft signs multibillion-dollar AI GPU deal with Lambda

The agreement will see Nvidia GB300 NVL72 systems integrated into Microsoft's growing AI infrastructure. Cloud-computing company Lambda announced a multibillion-dollar AI infrastructure deal with Microsoft on Monday to deploy tens of thousands of Nvidia GPUs across systems for advanced computing needs. The agreement involves Nvidia-backed Lambda supplying Microsoft with a large number of GPUs, including the Nvidia GB300 NVL72 systems. These systems were introduced earlier this year and started shipping in the past few months. The precise value of the deal remains undisclosed, as stated in Lambda's press release. This partnership builds on prior collaborations between the two companies. Stephen Balaban, CEO of Lambda, commented on the development in the press release: "It's great to watch the Microsoft and Lambda teams working together to deploy these massive AI supercomputers." He added, "We've been working with Microsoft for more than eight years, and this is a phenomenal next step in our relationship." Microsoft activated its initial Nvidia GB300 NVL72 cluster in October. Lambda, established in 2012 before the surge in AI technologies, has secured $1.7 billion in venture capital funding. The company currently faces high demand from businesses seeking AI infrastructure and computational resources. The Lambda announcement occurred shortly after Microsoft disclosed a $9.7 billion agreement for AI cloud capacity with IREN, an Australian data center operator. Earlier on the same day, OpenAI revealed a $38 billion cloud-computing contract with Amazon to acquire services spanning the next seven years. OpenAI also allegedly finalized a $300 billion cloud-compute arrangement with Oracle in September.