Satya Nadella
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What is going on with OpenAI and Sam Altman?
Here’s everything you need to know about the situation to hold your own at Thanksgiving on Thursday.
Sam Altman reinstated as OpenAI CEO five days after being fired
Sam Altman is returning to OpenAI as CEO following after his firing five days ago launched the company onto one of the wildest rollercoaster rides in tech history,
Microsoft could lay off as many as 11,000 employees this week
Microsoft could announce wide-sweeping layoffs within the next few days, according to separate reports from Bloomberg and Sky News.
Microsoft will be required to disclose sexual harassment cases after shareholder vote
Microsoft's shareholders have forced the tech giant to write up an annual report that would detail how it handles sexual harassment cases.
Microsoft appoints CEO Satya Nadella as chairman
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been appointed to the role of board chair.
Satya Nadella says Microsoft is working on the 'next generation' of Windows
Microsoft is working on a version of Windows it plans to detail sometime in the near future.
Microsoft says it's aiming to close TikTok deal by September 15th
Microsoft has confirmed that it's in discussions with ByteDance to buy TikTok in the US.
Microsoft will double its Black senior leadership by 2025
Like Google and several other tech companies, Microsoft plans to diversify its workforce to include more Black individuals.
Microsoft employees ask the company to end contracts with Seattle police
Hundreds of Microsoft employees are calling on the company to cancel its contracts with the Seattle Police Department.
Microsoft opens free registrations for Build 2020
Developers can sign up to attend Build 2020 for free.
Microsoft's Build conference will be a 'digital' online-only event for 2020
Microsoft's big event for developers in Seattle is traditionally where it shows off a lot of things that also impact us as consumers using Windows, Office or its other products, but this year it will be an exclusively virtual one. The company revealed in a statement to The Verge that "...we will deliver our annual Microsoft Build event for developers as a digital event, in lieu of an in-person event. We look forward to bringing together our ecosystem of developers in this new virtual format to learn, connect and code together." Yesterday, Washington governor Jay Inslee announced a ban on events with more than 250 people that will run at least until the end of March. While that's set to expire before the Build event in May, Microsoft is acting now to prepare people for a "virtual format" instead of waiting any longer to see if it's extended. Facebook F8 and Google I/O were scheduled to take place earlier in May, and both have already canceled any in-person component of those developer events. Last year Microsoft showed off the new Linux kernel for Windows 10 and Minecraft AR, and this year we expect to hear a lot more about its support for developers creating apps to run on Windows 10x and dual-screen devices like the Surface Neo.
Microsoft is evolving by focusing on people
The Microsoft of today would have been unrecognizable just a few years ago. That was clearer than ever at this week's Build conference, where the company once again did its best to court developers. Azure, AI, Edge and Office 365 were all hot topics -- but, surprisingly, the running theme throughout the show wasn't about tech, it was about people. Practically everything Microsoft announced, from adding a complete Linux kernel in Windows to simply bringing Internet Explorer into Edge, was meant to make the lives of both developers and consumers easier.
Microsoft will deliver low-cost broadband to 500,000 rural Indian villages
A major partnership with Google putting free Wi-Fi in 400 train stations wasn't the only major network news coming from India today. The Indian government also announced on Monday that it will pair with Microsoft to bring low-cost broadband connectivity to half a million villages throughout the subcontinent. That should help at least some of the estimated 4 million people that go without internet connectivity every year
Microsoft bought 'Minecraft' because it's perfect for HoloLens
Microsoft surprised many when it announced it had acquired Mojang, maker of the hit game Minecraft for $2.5 billion. What could a company specializing in operating systems, business software and consoles do with an already popular sandbox game primarily enjoyed by children? The game's creator, Markus "Notch" Persson, certainly helped expedite the sale, but Microsoft had something else in its arsenal that was also perfectly suited to the game: HoloLens.
Microsoft is doing great, and so are Surface Pro 3 and Office 365
The cloud has been a solid source of income for Microsoft in recent times, and while the company is still in the middle of a huge transition, the future is looking bright under recently appointed CEO Satya Nadella. Today, Microsoft released its earnings report for the first fiscal 2015 quarter, with the main takeaway being the growth of its Devices and Consumer revenue by 47 percent, to $10.96 billion, bringing the total to $23.20 billion in overall revenue, a 25 percent increase compared to the same period last year. In other words, business is superb over in Redmond.
Microsoft to shutter Xbox Entertainment Studios [update]
Following the 18,000 layoffs Microsoft announced this morning, the tech giant has also confirmed reports that it will be closing its Xbox Entertainment Studios division within the next few months. Though the closure of Xbox Entertainment Studios will drastically reduce Microsoft's plans for original Xbox programming, corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios Phil Spencer claims that a few key projects will live on. "Xbox will continue to support and deliver interactive sports content like 'NFL on Xbox,' and we will continue to enhance our entertainment offering on console by innovating the TV experience through the monthly console updates," Spencer wrote in a statement to Recode. According to Variety, it also appears likely that the Ridley Scott-produced Halo prequel Halo: Nightfall will survive the death of Xbox Entertainment Studios, both because it's quite a ways into development already and because Microsoft is currently in negotiations with Showtime to broadcast the series on premium cable alongside its Xbox debut. Update: Microsoft has contacted us to confirm that Halo: Nightfall will continue production. You'll find the official statement below.
Microsoft will abandon Nokia's Android smartphone project
It's a day of upheaval over at Microsoft as the company has announced that it'll cut 18,000 jobs in the near future. At the same time, however, Satya Nadella has cast doubt on the long-term future of Nokia's X series of Android-powered smartphones. In an email, the Microsoft CEO says that the company will refashion "select" Nokia X designs as Lumia smartphones that run Windows Phone. There's no word on if the other handsets in the range will continue, but it seems unlikely given that the phones run Android, Microsoft's biggest rival in the mobile space. If you're still on the hunt for one of these devices, don't worry, as Stephen Elop has added that the company will continue to support and sell the existing range of X series devices.
Bloomberg: Microsoft may lay off thousands, Xbox marketing teams affected
A new Bloomberg report claims Microsoft is on the verge of its biggest round of layoffs since 2009, when more than 5,000 employees lost their jobs. The job cuts could go on to top that figure, according to Bloomberg's sources, making it the biggest round of layoffs in the company's history. The sources told Bloomberg the layoffs will "probably" be in Nokia and overlapping Microsoft divisions, but also in marketing and engineering divisions. The sources said that included marketing departments for divisions such as the global Xbox team, potentially including the UK-based European group. "People with knowledge of the company's plans" said Microsoft is looking to trim its 127,000-strong employee base following the April acquisition of Nokia, which brought in 30,000 staff to the company. Two of the people said details of the restructuring are still being formulated, while Bloomberg notes the job cuts could occur "as soon as this week." Microsoft has yet to confirm or deny any of Bloomberg's information, and the publication noted a Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment on it.
Microsoft CEO wants to make Xbox part of a mobile future
Microsoft's recently appointed CEO Satya Nadella has issued an open letter to Microsoft employees and the general public, affirming his commitment to the Xbox brand while also hinting at a potential shift in company priority to mobile devices. "The single biggest digital life category, measured in both time and money spent, in a mobile-first world is gaming," Nadella said. "We are fortunate to have Xbox in our family to go after this opportunity with unique and bold innovation. [...] Bottom line, we will continue to innovate and grow our fan base with Xbox while also creating additive business value for Microsoft." "While today many people define mobile by devices, Microsoft defines it by experiences," Nadella continued. "We're really in the infant stages of the mobile-first world. In the next few years we will see many more new categories evolve and experiences emerge that span a variety of devices of all screen sizes. Microsoft will be on the forefront of this innovation with a particular focus on dual users and their needs across work and life." Nadella additionally noted that Microsoft's gaming innovations will continue to inform and shape its productivity-focused technology, citing Skype speech recognition and the Kinect camera as crossover efforts benefiting both divisions. [Image: Microsoft]
With iPad app, Microsoft begins to move out of the office
Microsoft finally announced a version of its Office productivity suite for the iPad today, and it's a solid, functional set of apps. As we say in our review, "Office for iPad is elegantly designed, with a robust feature set and intuitive layout." And it's free, as long as you're only interested in reading or viewing docs, that is. Want to edit that spreadsheet, or create your own PowerPoint deck? You'll need an Office 365 subscription, starting at about $10 a month. That may seem steep compared to the price of some other iPad productivity apps, like Apple's iWork suite, which is free for some iPad users. But that price includes the full desktop versions of the Office suite, which you can install on up to five computers.
