Microsoft says it will ask to pay higher electricity bills in areas where it’s building data centers, in an effort to prevent electricity prices for local residents from rising in those areas. The move is part of a broader plan to address rising prices and other concerns sparked by the tech industry’s massive buildout of artificial intelligence infrastructure across the United States.

Microsoft shared five commitments to minimize the impact of its data center buildout on residents, including paying more for electricity.

Power bills are increasing across the US, and in some regions data centres have contributed to the rise. A Bloomberg News analysis last year found that wholesale electricity now costs as much as 267% more for a single month than it did five years ago in areas located near significant data centre activity.

Microsoft Fabric, launched in 2023, unifies data engineering, data science, real-time analytics, and business intelligence in a single environment. Osmos’ technology will help turn raw data into “analytics- and AI-ready assets,” according to Bogdan Crivat, who leads Microsoft’s Azure Data Analytics team.

Microsoft commits to covering AI data center power costs after Trump demands tech companies stop passing electricity expenses to American consumers.

Microsoft recently announced five digital commitments to strengthen its support for Europe's technological landscape and digital sovereignty. These commitments encompass significant cloud and AI infrastructure expansions, a pledge to uphold digital ...

Three Senate Democrats said Tuesday that they are investigating the impact of data centers on consumer electricity bills amid concerns that the expansion of energy-hungry artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure is driving up costs. Sens. Elizabeth ...

The world’s largest tech companies are doubling down on their massive investments in AI infrastructure and pushing back on claims that this data center spending spree is creating a bubble that threatens the global economy. The $113.4B in combined capex ...