The Stargate joint venture and rejiggered partnership with OpenAI also lets Microsoft offload some AI spending onto rivals. That’s a positive development for a company that has pledged to lavish US$80 billion this fiscal year on capital expenditures and is monetizing those investments at a slower pace than Wall Street would prefer.

Under the Trump administration, OpenAI and other members of the tech sector are making a push to establish AI dominance in the U.S. On Tuesday, the ChatGPT maker announced The Stargate Project, a $500 billion venture to invest in AI infrastructure.