{"slug": "3m-and-microsoft-are-both-building-ai-data-center-infrastructure-but-not-exactly", "title": "3M and Microsoft are both building AI data center infrastructure, but not exactly together", "summary": "3M joined a Multi-Source Agreement coalition for Expanded Beam Optical connectivity in AI data centers, while Microsoft signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Chevron for up to 2.67 GW of energy for AI data center operations in West Texas. The two companies are pursuing separate AI infrastructure projects with no confirmed bilateral partnership as of July 2026.", "body_md": "# 3M and Microsoft are both building AI data center infrastructure, but not exactly together\n\nThe two companies are pursuing separate but parallel paths to power the next generation of AI computing infrastructure.\n\nOn May 12, 2026, 3M announced it had joined a Multi-Source Agreement coalition focused on Expanded Beam Optical, or EBO, connectivity for AI data centers. This is about making sure the fiber optic connections inside massive data centers are reliable, fast, and standardized so that equipment from different manufacturers can actually work together.\n\nThe coalition includes AMD, Arista Networks, Cisco, Meta, Molex, and Oracle. The goal is to create open standards for EBO technology, which is designed to improve performance and make maintenance easier in the demanding environments that AI workloads create.\n\nMicrosoft signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Chevron for up to 2.67 GW of energy dedicated to AI data center operations in West Texas. To put that number in perspective, 2.67 gigawatts is enough electricity to power roughly two million homes.\n\nThe West Texas location offers abundant land, favorable energy economics, and proximity to both natural gas resources and growing renewable energy capacity.\n\nThere has been no confirmed bilateral partnership between 3M and Microsoft regarding AI infrastructure as of July 2026. Their efforts are running on parallel tracks rather than a single shared roadmap.\n\n**Disclosure:** This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our\n\n[Editorial Policy](https://cryptobriefing.com/editorial-policy/).", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/3m-and-microsoft-are-both-building-ai-data-center-infrastructure-but-not-exactly", "canonical_source": "https://cryptobriefing.com/3m-microsoft-ai-data-center-infrastructure/", "published_at": "2026-07-15 13:52:02+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-15 14:10:33.946841+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-infrastructure"], "entities": ["3M", "Microsoft", "Chevron", "AMD", "Arista Networks", "Cisco", "Meta", "Molex"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/3m-and-microsoft-are-both-building-ai-data-center-infrastructure-but-not-exactly", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/3m-and-microsoft-are-both-building-ai-data-center-infrastructure-but-not-exactly.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/3m-and-microsoft-are-both-building-ai-data-center-infrastructure-but-not-exactly.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/3m-and-microsoft-are-both-building-ai-data-center-infrastructure-but-not-exactly.jsonld"}}