India, Oct. 30 -- Microsoft reported blockbuster growth in its Azure business on Wednesday, pushing its quarterly revenue past Wall Street estimates. This was on a day when the cloud-computing service faced a massive outage.

Microsoft Azure's quarterly results show that businesses are still splurging on artificial intelligence services despite fears of a bubble.

Microsoft said the Azure cloud business, its key AI unit, grew 40% in the July-September period - its fiscal first quarter - outpacing Visible Alpha estimates of about 38.4%.

The results highlight the growing returns from Microsoft's massive AI investments. However, a web of circular deals, soaring valuations, and limited evidence of AI productivity gains have raised doubts abo...