Microsoft expanded its global presence with a $10 billion investment in Gulf AI infrastructure, while Qualcomm secured a long-term patent licensing agreement with Apple. Meanwhile, Oracle shares slipped after issuing a force majeure notice regarding a data center project, and Amazon restricted Meta's AI agent from its site while integrating Anthropic's Claude. Additionally, Anthropic signed an $11.6 billion cloud deal with Akamai, and Crusoe canceled a major turbine purchase for its facilities.
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Oracle Shares Drop Following Report of Force Majeure Notice on Data Center
Oracle issued a force majeure notice to Stack Infrastructure regarding the massive Project Jupiter campus in New Mexico, seeking to protect itself from financial exposure if the facility misses its planned 2028 opening. Shares of Oracle fell approximately 4% to around $139 following the report, while trading volume reached 56.2 million shares, about 68% above its three-month average of 33.4 million shares. The legal maneuver aims to defer payments if construction delays hit the site, which is designed for 2.45 gigawatts of capacity to provide computing power to OpenAI as part of the broader Stargate initiative. Development of the campus has encountered hurdles, including a nearly six-month delay to February 1, 2027, for an Energy Transfer pipeline intended to deliver gas after regulators denied previous route permits, alongside a pending air-quality permit facing a November 23 deadline from the state environment department. The rising strain also hit credit markets, where the on Oracle's 6.7% due 2056 climbed above 8% for the first time, and the cost of insuring its reached a record high. The friction rippled across partners, as Bloom Energy shares declined 5% and Blue Owl , whose company Stack Infrastructure is developing the project, dropped roughly 4%.
Microsoft Plans Over $10 Billion Investment in Gulf Region
Microsoft announced plans on Wednesday to invest more than $10 billion in cloud and infrastructure across Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates between now and 2030. The figure covers both and operating expenditures as the tech giant expands its regional footprint and deepens ties with national artificial intelligence organizations. Vice Chair and President Brad Smith told Reuters that the spending schedule accelerates prior commitments despite ongoing regional conflicts. Alongside the headline infrastructure push, Microsoft plans to spend more than $400 million on subsea and terrestrial connectivity across the Middle East by the end of the decade. The regional strategy also features a digital resilience initiative providing continuity planning and data protection programs for local partners. Microsoft has operated in the Middle East since 1991 and previously committed to training more than 4.2 million people across the four target countries by 2030. The company will prioritize zero-water cooling for new and collaborate with local to expand access to carbon-free electricity. Partnerships with regional entities such as Saudi Arabia's HUMAIN and Qatar's QAI focus on targeted technological alignment without additional capital commitments, building on Microsoft's prior $1.5 billion investment in Abu Dhabi's G42. Smith noted that the company could not provide a geographic breakdown of the investment across individual countries due to security factors.
Qualcomm and Apple Extend Global Patent License Agreement for Chips
Qualcomm renewed its global patent licensing agreement with Apple, securing a long-term stream starting April 1, 2027. The agreement extends a commercial relationship previously established by a 2019 settlement that ended a two-year global legal battle over wireless-patent royalties and modem-chip supply. Apple is currently transitioning to its own in-house cellular chips to reduce reliance on external hardware, but Qualcomm owns foundational patents for modern cellular connectivity. This extension ensures Qualcomm will continue collecting intellectual property fees even as future iPhones adopt Apple silicon. Qualcomm shares ticked up 0.2% in the prior session following the announcement.
Amazon Restricts Internal Use of Meta's Muse AI Agent Over Security Concerns
Amazon blocked Meta Platforms from accessing its retail site with the Muse agent over security concerns. Amazon stated that Muse browsed without identifying itself and raised unresolved issues regarding customer credentials, while Meta countered that the agent cannot view user passwords or payment details. The restriction erects a barrier between Amazon and Meta's fast-growing personal assistant, which has secured commerce integrations with rival retailers including Walmart, Best Buy, and Shopify. Amazon instead opened its seller platform to Anthropic's Claude via a new Selling Partner plugin that grants merchants direct access to inventory and pricing tools. Amazon has invested $13 billion in Anthropic with potential for another $20 billion, while Anthropic has committed over $100 billion to AWS infrastructure over the coming decade.
Microsoft President Calls for Built-In Emergency Brakes on Advanced AI Systems
Microsoft President Brad Smith called for built-in emergency brakes on advanced systems during discussions at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Smith argued that safety controls should be distributed across model developers, cloud infrastructure providers, and software companies rather than concentrated in a single entity. The proposal echoes safety frameworks the company outlined three and a half years ago. Smith also confirmed that Microsoft plans to utilize 200 megawatts of computing capacity at an Emirati through its $1.5 billion investment in G42, alongside a separate $2 billion Middle East investment announced earlier. He acknowledged that the company will likely miss its 2030 carbon-negative target due to increased energy demands from -fired plants powering AI data centers.
Crusoe Cancels $1.25 Billion AI Data Center Turbine Plan With Boom
techcrunch.com reports that Crusoe has abandoned a $1.25 billion plan to purchase stationary power plant turbines from Boom Supersonic for its . Crusoe had agreed to buy 29 of Boom's 42-megawatt Superpower turbines, with initial deliveries originally scheduled to begin in 2027. Boom Supersonic CEO Blake Scholl announced the cancellation in a post on X, stating that turbines are no longer part of Crusoe's near-term primary power mix at its Abilene site and elsewhere. Crusoe recently raised $3.9 billion and is building a massive campus in Abilene, Texas, that supplies computing power to OpenAI and Oracle, alongside a 900-megawatt data center for Microsoft that will use on-site gas turbines. Boom Supersonic, which is developing the Overture supersonic passenger jet, launched its stationary power plant business last year and raised $300 million largely to commercialize the effort. Despite losing its launch customer, Boom stated it will deliver about 250 megawatts of Superpower turbines to other sites next year and is targeting 1 gigawatt in 2028.
Crusoe Funding and Planned Turbine Spend ($B)
Crusoe's recent raise dwarfs the canceled turbine order.
Akamai and Anthropic Sign $11.6 Billion Cloud Services Agreement
channelnewsasia.com reports that Anthropic has committed to spending $11.6 billion on cloud services from Akamai Technologies over a seven-year term. The agreement includes an for the lab to take a stake of up to 5 per cent in Akamai through a warrant issued for about 7.7 million shares with an exercise price of $111.33 per share. The contract could expand by an additional $9 billion, bringing the potential total commitment to about $20 billion and unlocking the remaining 3 per cent of the warrant. Akamai shares jumped 16 per cent in extended trading on Thursday following the announcement. Fulfilling the initial commitment will require about $5.5 billion in total , prompting Akamai to increase its 2026 spending by about $1.7 billion to secure necessary components like memory. As part of this preparation, Akamai authorized Jabil to purchase about $1.7 billion worth of memory components under an existing services agreement. The transaction adds to more than $2.8 billion in multi-year cloud infrastructure deals Akamai announced across its customer base this year.
Big tech is pouring billions into cloud infrastructure and strategic AI partnerships, even as security frictions and project cancellations disrupt hardware plans. It is unresolved whether custom hardware and regional capacity can scale fast enough to meet soaring AI operational demands.
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