Microsoft's costs in focus as fears rise over slow payoff from AI

Microsoft investors will have one big question when the tech giant reports earnings on Tuesday: has growth in its Azure cloud-computing business picked up enough to justify the billions of dollars being spent on artificial intelligence infrastructure? Widely seen as the front-runner in the race to make money from AI, thanks to its tie-up with ChatGPT maker OpenAI, Microsoft is expected to report that Azure's growth stayed steady quarter-over-quarter at about 31% between April and June, according to data from Visible Alpha. Microsoft's capital spending likely surged about 53% year-over-year to $13.64 billion in the period, according to 16 analysts polled by LSEG.