Microsoft walks away from AI deal as $170 billion question grows

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT, Financials) apparently passed on a chance to lease more artificial-intelligence computer power from Nvidia-backed Nscale, raising doubts about how quickly it's expanding its data centers.The ruling concerns a proposed 500 megawatt expansion at Nscale's Ward County, Texas, project.Microsoft has already committed to lease roughly 240 megawatts from the facility. The corporation opted out of the optional expansion, the article said, not that it scrapped its current commitment.Microsoft recently exited a rival 50-megawatt Nscale project in Essex, England, when delays pushed its projected power connection into the 2030s.