By Sunny Yadav

Cloud giants like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) are betting big on artificial intelligence (AI) as the next driver of cloud infrastructure. According to a new report from IoT Analytics, Microsoft is emerging as the clear leader in cloud AI engagements, particularly in generative AI (genAI), leaving AWS and Google trailing behind.

Microsoft Leads in AI Case Studies

IoT Analytics’ findings show that Microsoft captured 45 percent of all new cloud AI case studies, including a dominant 62 percent of genAI-focused case studies. The report credits Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI for bolstering its position in this competitive space.

Amazon Web Services, on the other hand, is excelling in traditional AI use cases. While it accounted for only 15 percent of new cloud AI case studies, 85 percent of those focused on non-genAI applications, demonstrating the platform’s strength in legacy AI systems.

Google Cloud lags in volume but integrates AI more effectively across its cloud wins. 36 percent of Google’s new public cloud case studies use cloud AI, suggesting that AI is a more significant driver for Google Cloud than for its rivals.

Hyperscalers’ Cloud AI Engagement

IoT Analytics found that Microsoft and Google are over-indexing in cloud AI engagement compared to their market shares:

  • Microsoft AI engagement was at 45 percent, 16 points above its 29 percent overall cloud market share
  • Google AI engagement was at 17 percent, eight points above its nine percent market share
  • AWS AI engagement was at 34 percent, three points below its 37 percent market share

In genAI specifically, Microsoft’s engagement rate doubled its overall market share, while AWS lagged by 21 percentage points compared to its leadership in the broader cloud market.

AI Demand Driving Cloud Infrastructure Investment

The growing demand for AI is fueling massive infrastructure spending among hyperscalers. Amazon plans to spend $75 billion on capital expenditures in 2024 to support AWS and its AI services. Similarly, Microsoft and Google have ramped up investments in AI-focused data center expansions to meet the rising demand for AI workloads.

According to Synergy Research Group, global enterprise cloud infrastructure spending reached $84 billion in Q3 2024, a 23 percent year-over-year increase driven largely by AI and genAI investments.

According to ABI Research, the AI-driven cloud infrastructure expansion will focus on large and mega-sized colocation facilities. The firm predicts that 43 percent of data centers will be large-scale by 2030, up from the current 28 percent, as companies build out facilities capable of handling AI and other data-intensive applications.

Microsoft’s surge in cloud AI engagement solidifies its position as a frontrunner, making it the hyperscaler to watch in the race to dominate the AI-powered future of cloud computing.

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