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Microsoft Lands $750 Million, Three-Year Azure Deal With Perplexity for Frontier AI Models

Perplexity adopts Azure Foundry for model access, reflecting a multi‑cloud strategy during its legal dispute with Amazon.

Overview

  • The agreement lets Perplexity run models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI through Microsoft’s Foundry program.
  • Microsoft confirmed the partnership to Reuters, while multiple reports put the value at $750 million over three years.
  • A Perplexity spokesperson said the company is partnering with Microsoft for access to frontier models, but AWS remains its preferred cloud provider.
  • Perplexity has been sued by Amazon over its Comet shopping agent, and the new arrangement expands Perplexity’s infrastructure options.
  • The deal arrives one day after Microsoft shares fell nearly 10% on slower Azure growth and softer margin guidance, with analysts trimming price targets yet maintaining a Strong Buy consensus.