Perplexity Strikes $750 Million Azure Deal With Microsoft, Expands Beyond Amazon Cloud

AI search startup Perplexity has entered into a major cloud partnership with Microsoft, signing a $750 million, three-year agreement to use the company’s Azure cloud platform, marking a significant expansion beyond its long-standing reliance on Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Under the deal, Perplexity will deploy artificial intelligence models through Microsoft Foundry, gaining access to advanced systems developed by OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI, according to people familiar with the arrangement. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity as the agreement is private.

Confirming the partnership, a Perplexity spokesperson said the company is “excited to work with Microsoft” to access leading-edge AI models. However, the startup stressed that the move does not replace AWS, which remains central to its infrastructure strategy.

“AWS continues to be Perplexity’s preferred cloud provider, and we’re looking forward to expanding that relationship further in the coming weeks,” the spokesperson added.

Microsoft and Amazon declined to comment on the deal.

Strategic shift amid AI competition

The agreement highlights a growing trend among AI-driven companies to diversify cloud partnerships, reducing dependence on a single provider while tapping into specialized services. This multi-cloud approach has accelerated as demand for AI computing power surges and companies experiment with multiple models and platforms.

Perplexity, one of the most highly valued startups in the AI search space, is competing with industry heavyweights such as Google and OpenAI in reshaping how users search for information online. Unlike rivals such as OpenAI and Anthropic, however, Perplexity has raised comparatively less capital, making strategic infrastructure deals increasingly important.

Ongoing ties — and tensions — with Amazon

Much of Perplexity’s early growth was built on AWS, including the use of Amazon Bedrock to access Anthropic’s models for its AI-powered search engine. CEO Aravind Srinivas has frequently highlighted Amazon as a core partner and previously said the company had gone “all in” on AWS, with commitments running into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Despite this, relations between the two firms have become strained. In November, Amazon filed a lawsuit seeking to block Perplexity from enabling AI-assisted shopping on Amazon’s marketplace. Perplexity responded by accusing Amazon of anti-competitive behavior, calling the move a threat to consumer choice.

Boost for Microsoft’s AI ambitions

For Microsoft, the Perplexity deal strengthens Azure’s position as a neutral AI platform, offering access to a wide range of models rather than tying customers to a single provider. The company has steadily expanded Foundry’s offerings, adding Anthropic models alongside its long-standing partnership with OpenAI.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently said customers increasingly expect flexibility in choosing AI models. He noted that more than 1,500 Foundry users have already deployed both OpenAI and Anthropic models, with high-spending enterprise customers growing rapidly.

As competition intensifies across the AI ecosystem, Perplexity’s Azure move signals a calculated effort to balance scale, flexibility and independence — while keeping its long-term cloud options firmly open.