Microsoft announced a strategic partnership with 3M to deploy 3M's Expanded Beam Optical (EBO) technology in Azure data...
Microsoft announced a strategic partnership with 3M to deploy 3M's Expanded Beam Optical (EBO) technology in Azure data centers, aiming to reduce network deployment timelines and improve reliability for AI workloads.
confidence score
Strong evidence: 10 independent source classes support this read.
MSFT has not made a large direction-matching 30-90 day move yet.
signal brief
Microsoft announced a strategic partnership with 3M to deploy 3M's Expanded Beam Optical (EBO) technology in Azure data centers, aiming to reduce network deployment timelines and improve reliability for AI workloads. Separately, The Information reported that Microsoft is preparing to release a new AI security product, internally codenamed Project Perception, using models from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Microsoft itself, positioned as a cost-effective alternative to existing bug-finding tools.
The 3M partnership is a concrete infrastructure move: according to the press release, "3M’s EBO solution will help unlock new levels of performance, reliability and efficiency" for Azure. The AI security tool, expected this month, targets rising cyber defense spending and leverages multiple AI models.
What the sources said:
- Cliff Henson, Microsoft CVP: "3M’s EBO solution will help unlock new levels of performance, reliability and efficiency to ensure customers can run their cloud and AI workloads on a trusted, sustainable and advanced environment." Source
- The Information: "Microsoft is preparing to release a new AI security product... to capture a piece of companies' rising cyber defense spending." Source
These developments signal increased investment in AI infrastructure and security software, positioning Microsoft favorably in the AI platform race. Increased efficiency in data center deployments may also benefit networking component suppliers like AVGO and MRVL.
source data used
“CVE: CVE-2026-58644 Vendor/project: Microsoft Product: SharePoint Known ransomware campaign use: Unknown Due date: 2026-07-19 CWE: CWE-502 Microsoft SharePoint contains a deserialization of untrusted data vulnerability that allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code over a network....”
“CVE: CVE-2026-56155 Vendor/project: Microsoft Product: Active Directory Federation Services Known ransomware campaign use: Unknown Due date: 2026-07-28 CWE: CWE-1220 Microsoft Active Directory Federation Services contains an insufficient granularity of access control vulnerability that allows an aut”
“CVE: CVE-2026-56164 Vendor/project: Microsoft Product: SharePoint Server Known ransomware campaign use: Unknown Due date: 2026-07-17 CWE: CWE-306 Microsoft SharePoint contains a missing authentication for critical function vulnerability that allows an unauthorized attacker to elevate privileges over”
“<p><a href="https://lobste.rs/s/qbvfll/microsoft_comic_chat_is_now_open_source">Comments</a></p> Tags: release, retrocomputing”
“Techmeme permalink: https://www.techmeme.com/260716/p68#a260716p68 <p><a href="https://www.techmeme.com/260716/p68#a260716p68" title="Techmeme permalink"><img height="12" src="http://www.techmeme.com/img/pml.png" style="border: none; padding: 0; margin: 0;" width="11" /></a> Aaron Holmes / <a href=”
“assets: 619003000000 (10-Q filed 2026-04-29) common_stock_capital: 109095000000 (10-Q filed 2026-04-29) liabilities: 275524000000 (10-Q filed 2026-04-29) net_income: 74599000000 (10-Q filed 2026-04-29) revenue: 205283000000 (10-Q filed 2026-04-29)”
“Slide %{start} of %{total}. %{slideTitle} [End of News section] Microsoft Corp (MSFT) Announcements I want to... - The next earnings release will be on July 29, 2026. - Get the quarterly dividend amount, record date, ex-dividend...”
“Score: 1 | Answers: 0 | Views: 109 Tags: git, azure, azure-devops, powerapps, azure-pipelines-yaml Obstacles (and our workflow decisions) while using Azure DevOps to manage branches and perform code reviews on Microsoft PowerApps”
“Rank 32 on Top Free. Developer: Microsoft Corporation. Genre: Productivity, Utilities.”
“Rank 46 on Top Free. Developer: Microsoft Corporation. Genre: Business, Productivity.”
“Keep me signed in Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site. To activate this function, check the...”
“Off the Wire Press Releases ST. PAUL, Minn. and REDMOND, Wash., July 16, 2026 — 3M and Microsoft have announced a strategic partnership focused on AI data center infrastructure and enterprise transformation. Microsoft’s Azure cloud and...”
“Manifold consensus on 'Will Microsoft power its data center with SMR(Small Modular Reactor) by 2030?': YES=36.36%”
“Manifold consensus on 'Will Microsoft have at least one data center (partially) powered by a self-operated fission reactor before 2030?': YES=27.48%”
“Manifold consensus on 'Will MSFT acquire/merge with OpenAI by the end of 2027?': YES=20.00%”
“Manifold consensus on 'In 2024, will OpenAI/Microsoft confirm plans to build a supercomputer like the rumored $100 billion "Stargate"?': YES=4.57%”
spillover entities
Decision support, not stock advice. This signal is research with cited evidence — not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security.