Microsoft and 3M announced a strategic partnership on July 15, under which Azure became the first announced hyperscale cloud provider to deploy 3M's Expanded Beam Optical (EBO) technology across its data centers. The technology addresses dust contamination in fiber connections, which slows AI GPU clusters: a standard multimode optical fiber core is roughly 50 microns across, and a speck of dust at that scale can scatter or block light signals. According to 3M's testing data, completing a multi-fiber installation with conventional MPO connectors can take eight or more hours, while the same installation using EBO took about one hour. In exchange, 3M will adopt Microsoft's AI and digital platforms, including Copilot and Microsoft Fabric, for its internal business operations.