Microsoft announced on Tuesday that beverage giant Coca-Cola has signed a $1.1 billion five-year deal to leverage its cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) services. This agreement marks a substantial expansion of Coca-Cola’s existing partnership with Microsoft, which began in 2020 with a $250 million deal for cloud and business software services.
As part of the new agreement, Microsoft and Coca-Cola will collaborate on exploring the potential of Azure OpenAI, a service that integrates technology from ChatGPT creator OpenAI. This service empowers customers to develop chatbots and other AI applications within Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform.
Coca-Cola will also evaluate Microsoft’s Copilot offerings, which provide AI-powered assistance for tasks such as summarizing email conversations and creating slide decks for presentations. Additionally, the beverage maker will expand its use of Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 software, a popular tool for sales professionals.
The financial breakdown of the $1.1 billion deal remains undisclosed, with Microsoft not specifying the allocation between AI services and traditional cloud software. This strategic partnership underscores the beverage industry’s growing adoption of AI and cloud computing to enhance productivity, optimize operations, and deliver personalized customer experiences.
