Microsoft expands AI infrastructure, adds 24 data centres to its 500-plus global kitty in Q1 FY27

Microsoft added 24 data centres across five continents in the September quarter as it expands computing capacity to meet demand for its cloud and artificial intelligence services, CEO Satya Nadella said.

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Microsoft has more than 500 data centres worldwide across 34 countries, according to the company’s website. Microsoft did not disclose an updated total following the additions during the quarter.

The technology giant said it also reduced the time taken to bring new NVIDIA GB300 graphics processing units (GPUs) into operation by about 20% quarter-on-quarter in its largest regions. Throughput for Copilot workloads increased by more than 50% over the same period, Mr. Nadella said during the company’s earnings call on October 28.

Microsoft Copilot is its AI assistant integrated into products such as Microsoft 365, Windows and Teams, helping users draft content, analyse information, summarise documents and automate tasks.

The company is scaling its infrastructure using chips from NVIDIA and AMD, alongside its own Maia systems. Maia 200 is delivering up to 1.7 times more tokens per watt across AI experiences in Teams and Copilot, while Maia 300 is expected to deliver 40% more tokens per watt than leading GPU-based systems, Mr. Nadella said.

It reported revenue of $92.3 billion for the September quarter, up 19% year-on-year. Net profit rose 32% to $36.6 billion, while operating profit increased 21% to $45.9 billion. Azure revenue grew 48%, while Microsoft Cloud revenue rose 30% to $63.9 billion, reflecting demand across cloud services and AI infrastructure.

The company also cited efficiency gains across its GPU fleet and improved monetisation of existing CPU capacity as factors that helped it serve more customer demand.

Microsoft’s capital expenditure was $45.2 billion in the quarter, with about three-fourths going towards short-lived assets, primarily CPUs and GPUs. The company expects capital expenditure to exceed $50 billion in the December quarter.