Microsoft announced a $10 billion investment to build AI infrastructure in Japan and named SoftBank and Sakura Internet as key partners; Sakura shares jumped 20.27% on Friday. The initiative is billed as a major expansion of local cloud capacity to support AI adoption across Japanese industry.
Microsoft is in advanced talks to lease significant capacity at the Stargate Project in Abilene, Texas, where Oracle and OpenAI recently scaled back expansion. The move could validate Stargate's development and signal persistent demand for hyperscale cloud and AI infrastructure.