(Reuters) – Microsoft (NASDAQ:) will apply networking equipment from Lumen Technologies to boost its throughput for artificial intelligence workloads, the companies said on Wednesday, as the tech giant looks to meet growing demand at its data centers.

In April, Microsoft said a shortage of data center infrastructure needed to deploy AI models was hindering its ability to capitalize on the technology.

The company quickly took a lead in the AI ​​race with its investment in ChatGPT developer OpenAI, and has invested billions of dollars in cloud infrastructure to maintain an advantage over Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ: ), and Amazon.com (NASDAQ: ).

Under the deal struck Wednesday, Lumen will apply the tech giant’s Azure cloud services to cut costs.

The companies said the move to Azure will improve Lumen’s cash flow by more than $20 million over the next 12 months, aiding the turnaround efforts of the company, which restructured its debt in March.

Lumen, whose shares were up 3% in early trading, had $18.59 billion in long-term debt as of March 31, according to its latest quarterly earnings report.