Perplexity has tapped into Microsoft’s Azure cloud to deploy AI models via the Foundry service, including those developed by OpenAI, Anthropic, and xAI, according to sources cited by Bloomberg.
The deal is valued at $750 million over three years.
“We are delighted to partner with Microsoft to access cutting-edge models from X, OpenAI, and Anthropic,” Perplexity said, noting that this new contract does not involve any shift in spending away from Amazon Web Services, its longtime main cloud provider.
“AWS remains Perplexity’s preferred cloud infrastructure provider, and we look forward to announcing extensions to this partnership in the coming weeks,” the spokesperson added.
This diversification underscores a strong trend toward a multicloud approach that has accelerated with the advent of AI.
Complex relations with Amazon
Perplexity had so far built most of its activity on AWS, using the Bedrock service to access the Anthropic models that power its search engine.
Aravind Srinivas, Perplexity’s CEO, is a familiar figure at AWS conferences, often presenting Perplexity as one of its flagship AI clients.
However, the relationship has grown strained in recent months. In November, Amazon sued Perplexity in an attempt to prevent the startup from allowing consumers to use its AI tools to shop on the online giant’s marketplace. Perplexity retaliated by calling Amazon an intimidator, accusing actions that amounted to “a threat to user choice.” Srinivas had previously disclosed hundreds of millions of dollars in commitments with AWS.
Microsoft strengthens its AI offering
For Microsoft, the deal reinforces its strategy to position Azure as the go-to platform for building AI applications and deploying models from multiple providers. The company has long offered OpenAI’s models and struck a similar deal with Anthropic in November.
“Our customers expect to use multiple models for any workload,” said CEO Satya Nadella during a quarterly results call this week. “And we offer the broadest selection of models among all hyperscalers.”
More than 1,500 Microsoft Foundry customers have already used both OpenAI and Anthropic models, Nadella noted during a quarterly earnings call this week, adding that the number of customers spending more than $1 million per quarter on Foundry rose by almost 80% in the quarter ended December.
Perplexity is among the AI startups with the highest valuations, but faces stiff competition from Google and OpenAI in its bid to revolutionize online information search. Unlike OpenAI and Anthropic, which have recently expanded infrastructure deals, it has not raised as much capital as its rivals.
