Microsoft's OpenAI partnership was born from Google envy
The AI landscape's development can be attributed to fear, jealousy, and capitalist ambition, leading companies like Microsoft to invest heavily in OpenAI to compete with Google. [ more ]
Google's dividend upstages its cloud battle with Microsoft
Alphabet announced its first quarterly dividend and share buyback program, leading to investor excitement despite the low yield compared to other tech firms.
Microsoft won in the cloud and artificial intelligence battle against Google, showing more specific disclosure and strong revenue growth. [ more ]
Microsoft to invest $1.7 bbn in AI, cloud infrastructure in Indonesia
Microsoft announced a $1.7bn investment in AI and cloud services in Indonesia, aiming to train 840,000 people and support tech developers, marking their largest investment in the country. [ more ]
Alphabet, Microsoft grow revenue without much help from AI
Alphabet and Microsoft shares rose after higher-than-anticipated quarterly earnings. Google Cloud revenue grew 28% due to AI. Alphabet introduced a dividend and stock repurchase plan. [ more ]
Microsoft Reports Rising Revenues as A.I. Investments Bear Fruit
Microsoft's significant investments in AI are yielding substantial returns, with a notable increase in revenue and profit, driven significantly by the growth in Azure cloud computing and generative AI services. [ more ]
Microsoft's Phi-3 shows the surprising power of small, locally run AI language models
Phi-3-mini is a lightweight AI language model with only 3.8 billion parameters, simpler to operate and suitable for smartphones/laptops without internet connection. [ more ]
Microsoft's FOMO on Google AI drove funding of OpenAI
Microsoft's CTO Kevin Scott expressed concern about a capability gap between Microsoft and competitors like Google and OpenAI in AI development. [ more ]
Microsoft and IBM release source code for one of the weirdest versions of MS-DOS
Microsoft open-sourced MS-DOS 4.00, distinct from the anticipated multitasking version. Multitasking became a focus in subsequent Windows and OS/2 releases, not MS-DOS. [ more ]
Call of Duty makes its return to the Xbox Showcase stage
Xbox Games Showcase will be livestreamed on June 9, featuring a deep dive on an upcoming game following the event, speculated to be Call of Duty Black Ops Gulf War. [ more ]
Microsoft announced new games for Game Pass, including The Rewinder, Have A Nice Death, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, Kona II: Brume, Little Kitty, Big City, and Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons. [ more ]
World of Warcraft's 20th-anniversary party, BlizzCon, cancelled due to ownership change, speculation on Microsoft's impact on future events and games. [ more ]
Microsoft starts rolling out OneDrive's offline mode on the web
Microsoft is introducing a new offline mode for OneDrive on the web for work and school users, allowing access to files without an internet connection. [ more ]
Reliable Web App Pattern: Now Optimizes Azure Migration with Enhanced Infrastructure and Security
The updated Reliable Web App Pattern for .NET by Microsoft emphasizes infrastructure as code practices, enhanced network security, and simplifying Azure migration for .NET web apps. [ more ]
.NET Aspire Preview 6: Enhanced Security and Testing, New Features, and More
Enhancements in security and reliability in .NET Aspire Preview 6 with significant changes and additions, including authentication requirements for accessing the dashboard. [ more ]
Blizzard canceled BlizzCon 2024, citing reasons not disclosed, but assures of future editions with detailed franchise updates at other events. [ more ]
Microsoft unveils a new small language model | MarTech
Microsoft introduces cost-effective small language models, starting with Phi-3-Mini with 3.8 billion parameters and trained on 3.3 trillion tokens. [ more ]
Microsoft's lightweight Phi-3 Mini model can run on smartphones
Microsoft introduced Phi-3 Mini, a light AI model for local devices, offering a cost-effective alternative to cloud-based models for small organizations. [ more ]
Microsoft is facing serious security challenges, requiring a complete overhaul of its security culture to prevent further breaches and restore trust. [ more ]
Patch Tuesday: Windows Server 2008 receives emergency security patch | Computer Weekly
Microsoft's latest Patch Tuesday in April 2024 addresses 155 vulnerabilities, including 3 critical ones and 145 important severity ones.
An emergency patch for the Proxy Driver Spoofing Vulnerability impacting Windows desktop and server OS was released for end-of-life versions like Windows Server 2008. [ more ]
Microsoft launches Phi-3, its smallest AI model yet
Phi-3 Mini is Microsoft's new 3.8 billion parameters lightweight AI model, following Phi-2, aiming to provide robust performance in a smaller form. [ more ]
Microsoft's New AI Vasa App Makes Photos Talk and Sing | Entrepreneur
Microsoft introduced AI model VASA-1, transforming single pictures and audio into realistic lip-syncing videos, surpassing competitors in quality. [ more ]
New Cloud Governance Guidance in the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure
Microsoft updated its Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) Govern section for Azure to enhance cloud governance guidance and provide support for organizations in their cloud journey. [ more ]
Microsoft's new AI tool is a deepfake nightmare machine
Generative AI technology has advanced from generating images to creating videos with realistic facial movements based on just one photo and audio clip. [ more ]
U.S.-backed Microsoft deal elbows out China's AI in Gulf
Microsoft's $1.5 billion partnership with G42 in UAE boosts U.S. AI presence, limits China's influence, and showcases strategic geopolitical moves. [ more ]
Game hubs are a major addition to the Xbox app for PC and consoles, mirroring features seen on platforms like Steam.
Updates for Xbox consoles include muting soundboard audio in Discord chat, notifications for limited storage on OneDrive, and restrictions on game installs. [ more ]
Microsoft is confident Windows on Arm could finally beat Apple
Microsoft is confident in upcoming Arm-powered Windows laptops outperforming Apple's M3-powered MacBook in CPU and AI tasks.
New Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processors will be key for Microsoft's Windows on Arm push and will outperform Apple's app emulation for compatibility. [ more ]
TechCrunch Minute: Quantum computing's next era could be led by Microsoft and Quantinuum | TechCrunch
Quantum computing is making significant progress in areas like quantum error correction.
Microsoft and Quantinuum achieved a major breakthrough by encoding physical qubits into a single logical qubit for better error detection and correction. [ more ]