Microsoft Azure
OpenAI's primary cloud; Maia accelerator + Cobalt Arm CPU.
Azure is Microsoft's cloud and, through a ~$13B+ investment and exclusive-then-preferred arrangement, the primary compute backbone for OpenAI. It designs the Maia 100 AI accelerator and Cobalt 100 Arm CPU to offset Nvidia dependence, while remaining one of Nvidia's largest GB200/Blackwell buyers. In 2025 OpenAI's compute footprint expanded beyond Azure (Oracle/Stargate, CoreWeave), loosening exclusivity but Azure remains a core host.
Custom AI chip
Maia 100
Custom CPU
Cobalt 100 (Arm)
OpenAI investment
~$13B+
Hosts
OpenAI, Microsoft Copilot
How it fits the stack
Microsoft Azure with what it depends on (above) and what it feeds (below). The figure renders as a crawlable diagram and upgrades to an interactive 3D graph as it scrolls into view.
Microsoft Azure in the AI stack. Microsoft Azure with its immediate upstream dependencies (top) and downstream dependents (bottom) in the AI value chain. Hover a node in 3D, or read the full relationships below.
Graph data (text) — 15 entities, 16 relationships
- Microsoft Azure —uses→ AMD
- Microsoft Azure —supplies→ Arista Networks
- Microsoft Azure —uses→ Arm Holdings
- Microsoft Azure —uses→ Arm Neoverse / CSS server IP
- Microsoft Azure —powers→ Constellation Energy
- Microsoft Azure —depends on→ CoreWeave (financing)
- Microsoft Azure —supplies→ CoreWeave Data Centers
- ChatGPT (Consumer Distribution) —depends on→ Microsoft Azure
- GitHub Copilot —hosts→ Microsoft Azure
- Microsoft AI (MAI) —depends on→ Microsoft Azure
- OpenAI —hosts→ Microsoft Azure
- OpenAI —depends on→ Microsoft Azure
- Microsoft Azure —partners with→ CoreWeave (financing)
- Microsoft Azure —partners with→ Equinix
- Microsoft Azure —partners with→ Lambda (Lambda Labs)
- Microsoft Azure —partners with→ Nebius Group
Depends on ↑ · 15
Feeds ↓ · 5
Context — capital, rivals, policy · · 6