Amazon Foes Walmart and Microsoft Deepen Tech Partnership

The five-year deal, announced Tuesday, pairs Amazon's largest retail competitor with its closest challenger in cloud computing. Walmart has warmed recently to working with technology companies, as it fends off Amazon's retail ambitions and expertise in data. The shared rivalry with Amazon "is absolutely core to this," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in an interview. "How do we get more leverage as two organizations that have depth and breadth and investment to be able to outrun our respective competition," Mr. Nadella said. Walmart plans to deploy Microsoft's machine-learning, artificial-intelligence and other services to help employees, for example, pick products that go on shelves and optimize the performance of freezers and other equipment.