Microsoft 市值约 $2.8 兆（USD），而 Amy Hood（54 岁）必须在 AI 资本开支与投资人「科技泡沫」疑虑之间取舍；同业如 Meta Platforms Inc.、Alphabet Inc.（Google）与 Amazon.com Inc. 近年皆宣告本年度将较预期多支出「数百亿」美元以抢占 AI 模型与应用部署市场。Microsoft 一面维持毛利率大致稳定，一面以近年约 26,000 人裁员与预算紧缩控管成本，并让多数事业单位在更高利润率目标下自负盈亏；例如 Windows 每年广告预算遭削减超过 $100 百万（USD）。
在供给端，2025 年春季 Microsoft 依 Amy Hood 指示缩手全球资料中心：退出 London 与 Chicago 租赁谈判，并放缓 Indonesia 与 Wisconsin 工地；其后短缺恶化，Azure 在 Virginia、Texas 等关键枢纽出现新增订阅受限。为补缺，Microsoft 在 Texas（Abilene）接手 Oracle Corp. 与 OpenAI 放弃的专案，并转向 neocloud 供应商（如 CoreWeave Inc.、Nscale）承诺超过 $60 0亿（USD）以满足近端算力；同时亦拒绝一项 OpenAI 大型云端交易，该案改由 Oracle 承担约 $3000 亿（USD）算力承诺并面临未来 3 年现金流转负的预期风险。
In late 2024, Microsoft Corp. was spending more in a single quarter on data centers and chips than it had once spent in an entire year; CFO Amy Hood, doubting the reliability of internal demand forecasts, moved to pause numerous expansion projects. As news seeped out over subsequent months, investors read the pullback as a possible negative signal on AI, while Hood later acknowledged on an October earnings call that AI demand outpaced Microsoft’s ability to supply capacity: “I thought we were going to catch up… We are not.”
With a market value of about $2.8 trillion (USD), Hood (54) must calibrate AI investment against fears of a tech-bubble-style overspend, a decision complicated by projections that are “educated guesses.” Peers including Meta Platforms Inc., Alphabet Inc.’s Google, and Amazon.com Inc. have each signaled plans to spend tens of billions of dollars more than expected this year to capture the AI build-and-deploy market; Microsoft, by contrast, has kept margins largely stable while cutting costs via about 26,000 layoffs in recent years and tighter budgets, including a reduction of more than $100 million (USD) per year from Windows’ advertising budget.
On the supply side, Microsoft pulled back in spring 2025—stepping away from London and Chicago lease talks and throttling construction in Indonesia and Wisconsin—after which a data-center shortage became a growth bottleneck; Azure subscriptions were restricted in key hubs including Virginia and Texas. To add near-term capacity, Microsoft agreed to take over an Abilene, Texas project abandoned by Oracle Corp. and OpenAI and committed more than $60 billion (USD) to “neocloud” providers such as CoreWeave Inc. and Nscale, a stopgap that could create future rivals. Hood also declined a massive OpenAI cloud deal that went to Oracle, which committed $300 billion (USD) of computing and faces expectations of negative cash flow for the next three years, underscoring how capital-allocation choices are central to Microsoft’s AI-era risk profile.