AWS Gains OpenAI Access as Microsoft Loses Exclusive License; Nscale Pours €695m into Portugal AI Center
Microsoft’s exclusive OpenAI license has ended, enabling AWS to offer OpenAI models and leveraging Amazon’s $50bn investment to challenge Azure’s AI offering. Nscale will invest €695m ($812.6m) in a second 200MW AI data centre building at Portugal’s Sines campus, supplying over 66,000 Nvidia GPUs for Microsoft’s European AI compute capacity.
1. OpenAI License Expiration and AWS Access
Microsoft’s exclusive license agreement with OpenAI has expired, enabling Amazon Web Services to offer OpenAI’s models to its cloud customers. This shift leverages Amazon’s $50 billion investment in OpenAI and raises pressure on Azure’s AI service differentiation.
2. Portugal AI Data Centre Expansion
Nscale Global will invest €695 million ($812.6 million) to build a second 200MW AI data centre at Portugal’s Sines campus, allocating €230 million for shared infrastructure and €465 million for the new building. The facility will host over 66,000 Nvidia GPUs from late 2027 to boost Microsoft’s European AI compute supply.
3. Pre-Release AI Model Checks
Microsoft, Google and xAI have agreed to grant the U.S. Commerce Department early access to new AI models for national security testing. These pre-release checks aim to assess military misuse, cybersecurity risks and model behavior, potentially affecting the rollout timeline for advanced AI offerings.