Microsoft has returned to data center projects around the world, Bloomberg reports, suggesting that the company is noting that its cloud computing infrastructure is expanding too quickly.
Microsoft has suspended or delayed development sites for data centers in the UK, Australia, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Illinois on a per-Bloomberg basis. A spokesman told the publication that Microsoft had planned it years ago and that the changes demonstrated “flexibility of (that) strategy.”
Recently in February, Microsoft reiterated its previous plans to allocate more than $80 billion in cash in 2025, primarily AI data centers. As Bloomberg points out in its article, it is difficult to know how much of the company’s recent pullbacks reflect expectations for declining demand and temporary construction challenges, such as shortages in electricity and building materials.
Microsoft previously said that it will adapt the 2025 data center expansion focus from new construction to servers and other computing equipment to existing facilities.