Microsoft Opens Three-Zone Hyderabad Cloud Region in India

OpenAI, the AI partner of Microsoft, is reportedly seeking a valuation above US$1.2 trillion in a new funding round. The AI group is forecast to burn roughly US$278 billion in cash as it scales infrastructure and product development with Microsoft support. The prospective deal would reinforce OpenAI's role inside Microsoft's broader AI ecosystem, spanning Azure infrastructure and Copilot branded services. The funding push backs the view that rich AI workloads can keep Azure traffic and Copilot adoption growing, while also sharpening questions about capital intensity and dependency on a few large AI partners.

NEC Corporation announced that the Ohio Attorney General's Office, through the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, is upgrading its biometric identification system to NEC's next-generation Integra-ID 7 Software-as-a-Service platform, hosted within the Microsoft Azure Government Cloud environment. The large-scale modernization project transitions the State of Ohio's existing on-premises Integra-ID MBIS environment to a fully managed SaaS architecture, began in 2026, and is anticipated to be completed in less than nine months. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation operates Ohio's Automated Biometric Identification System, known as OABIS, which today contains more than 6 million biometric records, over 41 million events associated with approximately 25 million subjects, connectivity to nearly 600 livescan systems, and integration with eight local AFIS systems and the FBI Next Generation Identification system. NEC previously deployed a successful AFIS replacement project for the State of Ohio in 2021 following a competitive procurement process, replacing both the legacy AFIS and Computerized Criminal History systems. Eugene le Roux, Senior Vice President of NEC National Security Systems, Inc., said the project reinforces NEC's commitment to helping public safety agencies adopt secure, scalable SaaS biometric solutions, with Integra-ID 7 built on NEC's SaaS platform and powered by its everBlu continuous innovation framework.

Microsoft's board approved an 8% increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.98 per share, payable December 10, extending a streak of annual dividend increases that now spans more than 20 years. The payout has climbed from $1.56 a share in 2017 to $3.64 for fiscal 2026, supported by cash from operations that rose $46.8 billion to $182.9 billion for fiscal year 2026. Azure and other cloud services grew 43% in the fourth quarter, but the company's aggressive spending on artificial intelligence and data-center infrastructure is pressuring free cash flow and cloud margins, a risk that could slow future dividend increases and buybacks if AI monetization lags. Hedge fund holders of the stock fell to 273 in the second quarter from 282 in the first, though Arrowstreet Capital raised its stake 14% to $10.31 billion and Fisher Asset Management lifted its position 3% to $9.92 billion, while short interest eased to 74.45 million shares as of August 31 from 81.31 million on July 31.