Microsoft
Microsoft has benefited substantially from the rise of AI. Its partnership and close relationship with OpenAI has continued through 2024, as it looks to establish its Copilot chatbot as a go-to tool across its software and hardware offerings, even dedicating a button to it on future Windows device keyboards. TechCrunch covers those developments, and its other recent moves like unbundling Teams and Office and successfully defeating an antitrust challenge against its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Microsoft says Russian hackers also targeted other organizations
On Friday, Microsoft revealed that it had been the victim of a hack carried out by Russian government spies. Now, a week later, the technology giant said that it was…
Microsoft lays off 1,900 employees in Activision Blizzard and Xbox divisions
Three months after completing its $68.7 billion acquisition of gaming company Activision Blizzard, Microsoft is laying off 1,900 employees in its gaming divisions. This amounts to about 8.6% of 22,000…
Hackers breached Microsoft to find out what Microsoft knows about them
Wouldn’t you want to know what tech giants know about you? That’s exactly what Russian government hackers want, too. On Friday, Microsoft disclosed that the hacking group it calls Midnight…
Microsoft today made Reading Coach, its AI-powered tool that provides learners with personalized reading practice, available at no cost to anyone with a Microsoft account. As of this morning, Reading…
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The mobile regulatory landscape is changing at an inconvenient time for Apple
With the tech world fighting to win the AI race while smartphone sales slow and regulations chip away at its legacy revenue streams, Apple has its work cut out for it.
Keeping up with an industry as fast-moving as AI is a tall order. So until an AI can do it for you, here’s a handy roundup of recent stories in the world…
Microsoft would like 2024 to be the “year of the AI PC,” and to put a point on that, the company today announced a new key for Copilot — that…
Over the holiday season, Microsoft quietly launched its Copilot app on Android and iOS, along with iPadOS. The app gives users access to Copilot, formerly known as Bing Chat, which…
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India widens regulatory grip over tech firms
In 2023, India introduced a series of regulations and tweaked policies that borrowed from Europe’s antitrust approach and Chinese-style government surveillance, alarming executives and investors in the world’s most populous market. Additional regulations are on the horizon in 2024 as New Delhi continues a regulatory shift to more tightly govern…
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What a long, strange year it’s been in enterprise tech news
Looking back at the top enterprise news stories of the year, it’s clear that generative AI dominated, but it wasn’t the only news.
The New York Times wants OpenAI and Microsoft to pay for training data
The New York Times is suing OpenAI and its close collaborator (and investor), Microsoft, for allegedly violating copyright law by training generative AI models on Times’ content. In the lawsuit,…
Microsoft disrupts cybercrime operation selling fraudulent accounts to notorious hacking gang
Microsoft says it has successfully dismantled the infrastructure of a cybercrime operation that sold access to fraudulent Outlook accounts to other hackers, including the notorious Scattered Spider gang. The group,…
E3’s decades-long history has been peppered with ups and downs. The annual Los Angeles-based gaming expo saw a decade of steady growth after it was founded in the mid-90s. The…
Microsoft and OpenAI tie-up faces ‘relevant merger’ scrutiny by UK regulator CMA
The whirlwind management drama at OpenAI last month concluded with co-founder Sam Altman reinstated within a week of his surprise dismissal — and a much bigger role for Microsoft, which…
Bing’s new ‘Deep Search’ feature offers more comprehensive answers to complex search queries
Microsoft Bing is getting a new “Deep Search” feature powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4. The feature is designed to give users more relevant and comprehensive answers to complex search queries. Microsoft…
Microsoft is in talks with partners about launching an Xbox mobile store
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer says Microsoft is talking to partners about launching an Xbox mobile store, as first reported by Bloomberg. Spencer made the comment during an interview at…
Amazon finds itself in the unusual position of playing catch-up in AI
“This might be the first time where people looked and said that Amazon isn’t in the pole position to capitalize on this massive opportunity.”
Sam Altman’s officially back at OpenAI, and the board gains a Microsoft observer
Sam Altman is officially back as OpenAI’s CEO after a tumultuous week and change. And OpenAI officially has a new board of directors, replacing most of the board that attempted…
North Korea-backed hackers target CyberLink users in supply-chain attack
North Korean state-backed hackers are distributing a malicious version of a legitimate application developed by CyberLink, a Taiwanese software maker, to target downstream customers. Microsoft’s Threat Intelligence team said on…
Sam Altman is returning to OpenAI as its chief executive, the high-profile AI startup said Wednesday, a dramatic reversal that caps an intense five days of discussions, debates and convincing…
OpenAI’s fate took a a twist nobody could have imagined last week, and all we can do is watch to see what the final outcome will be.
One thing that the OpenAI drama should teach startups is that they should never put all their eggs in one LLM basket.
How the OpenAI fiasco could bolster Meta and the ‘open AI’ movement
It has been a whirlwind four days for OpenAI, the generative AI poster child behind the smash hit ChatGPT. Seemingly out of nowhere, the OpenAI board ousted CEO and co-founder…
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella suggests that Sam Altman might return to OpenAI
In interviews on CNBC and Bloomberg TV tonight, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made it clear that it’s possible Sam Altman, who was fired from his role as CEO at OpenAI…
Don’t expect competition authorities to wade into the Microsoft-OpenAI power-play — yet
As the tech world watches Microsoft suck in top execs and AI engineering talent from OpenAI, the generative AI giant in which it already holds a minority stake worth several…
OpenAI’s crisis will sow the seeds of the next generation of AI startups
OpenAI’s meltdown is likely to become the latest installment in what’s becoming a Silicon Valley tradition. It’s hard to know how this will end.
Microsoft may end up as the real winner of the OpenAI chaos that reigned over the weekend, and its rallying stock price is indicative of that. Upon the shocking news…
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Microsoft is the only real winner in the OpenAI debacle
OpenAI is in the process of fully collapsing on itself, following the ousting of former CEO Sam Altman in a shocking board decision. Exactly why the board decided to fire Altman is still unclear, but it seems increasingly likely that it was more about power-play shenanigans than anything else. What…
Microsoft hires ex-OpenAI leaders Altman and Brockman to lead new AI group
Microsoft has hired OpenAI co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman to head up a “new advanced AI research team,” the software conglomerate’s chief Satya Nadella said Monday, capping three days…
On Friday, the board of OpenAI, the AI startup behind ChatGPT and other viral AI-powered hits, did something unexpected but seemingly well within its right: it removed the company’s CEO,…