Microsoft

Microsoft is so confident AI is the future of computing that it’s adding a new button to the keyboards of Windows PCs dedicated to its Copilot AI assistant, starting with new machines to be announced at CES next week. It’s the first change to the Windows keyboard in 30 years, and the latest example of hardware makers betting on AI to both create new product categories and breathe life into older ones.

In what will be a closely watched legal salvo, the publisher claims the generative artificial intelligence giant was using its writing “without permission to develop their models and tools.”

Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella tweeted that the U.S. tech giant is committed to its partnership with OpenAI, whose chatbot kicked off the generative AI craze by producing human-like text, images, video and music. On Monday, Microsoft said it has hired Sam Altman and Greg Brockman to lead a new advanced AI research team.

In this repeat of the Talking TV episode from Aug. 18, Pia Blumenthal, design manager for the AContent Authenticity Initiative at Adobe and co-chair of the UX Task Force at the Coalition for Content, Provenance and Authenticity, explains how the proliferation of generative AI is making that job a lot harder. A full transcript of the conversation is included.

Microsoft completed its purchase of video game-maker Activision Blizzard for $69 billion on Friday, closing one of the most expensive tech acquisitions in history that could have repercussions across the video game industry. The notice that the deal has gone through came seven hours after Microsoft got final approval from Britain’s competition watchdog, which reversed its earlier decision to block the merger, removing the last obstacle for the transaction.

Pia Blumenthal, design manager for the AContent Authenticity Initiative at Adobe and co-chair of the UX Task Force at the Coalition for Content, Provenance and Authenticity, is on the front lines against news disinformation. She explains how the proliferation of generative AI is making that job a lot harder. A full transcript of the conversation is included.

The New York Times has decided not to join a group of media companies attempting to jointly negotiate with the major tech companies over use of their content to power artificial intelligence. The move is a major blow to efforts to Barry Diller’s efforts to establish an industry united front against Google and Microsoft.

Amazon, Google and Meta are among the companies that announced the new commitments on Friday as they race to outdo each other with versions of artificial intelligence.

Microsoft also said it was negotiating changes to the deal to satisfy objections made by a British regulator, which could allow it to complete its purchase of the video game giant as soon as this month.

The Federal Trade Commission plans to seek an emergency court order that would block Microsoft from closing its $75 billion deal for Activision Blizzard, according to a person familiar with the matter. The FTC plans to file Monday for a temporary restraining order in federal court that would halt the companies from imminently clinching the deal, the person said. A judge would need to agree to issue the time-limited order; there is no guarantee when or if the agency will file for the request.

Microsoft Advertising has an advertising verification requirement that it plans to enforce starting Aug. 1. The move follows the program’s announcement in June 2022. “We want our customers to have choice and control through transparency, so in addition to making our network safer, one of the primary goals of AIV is to increase visibility to those who interact with our ads,” Sarah Ralston, senior service engineering manager at Microsoft Advertising; and Sandeep Krishnan, senior program manager at Microsoft Advertising, wrote in a blog post.

Its president, Brad Smith, said companies needed to “step up” and governments needed to “move faster” as artificial intelligence progressed.

The green light follows objections to the blockbuster deal by American and British regulators on the grounds that it would undercut competition.

The company reported quarterly profit of $18.3 billion, or $2.45 per share, beating Wall Street expectations for earnings of $2.24 a share.

Elon Musk accused Microsoft of using data from Twitter without permission to train its chatbot. Then he threatened to sue the company. Microsoft retaliated by ending support for Twitter in its ad platform for search and social campaigns.

Noticeably heavier crowds filled a conference swinging back from the pandemic, while strategic partnerships between vendors signaled a new tack for the industry.

Along with adding it to Bing, Microsoft is also integrating the chatbot technology into its Edge browser. Microsoft announced the new technology at an event Tuesday at its headquarters in Redmond, Wash. The revamping of Microsoft’s second-place search engine could give the software giant a head start against other tech companies in capitalizing on the worldwide excitement surrounding ChatGPT, a tool that’s awakened millions of people to the possibilities of the latest AI technology.

Microsoft plans to cut thousands of jobs with some roles expected to be eliminated in human resources and engineering divisions, according to media reports on Tuesday. The expected layoffs would be the latest in the U.S. technology sector, where companies including Amazon and Meta Platforms have announced retrenchment exercises in response to slowing demand and a worsening global economic outlook.

Khan, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission, has staked an ambitious trustbusting agenda on a case that may be difficult to win.

The lawsuit marks Lina Khan’s most significant effort to date to address tech industry consolidation, and it could upend Microsoft’s gaming ambitions.

Big Tech companies took a heavy beating last week, to the tune of more than $255 billion in lost market capitalization that’s helped make a bad year even worse for the once-beloved sector. The five tech giants that posted results have now lost a combined $3 trillion in market cap on the year, according to Dow Jones Market Data, showing that Big Tech isn’t immune to the macroeconomic storm sweeping up the broader stock market.

Netflix’s choice of Microsoft to help it get into the advertising business came as a bit of a surprise, but Wall Street analysts and ad-tech industry insiders had mostly positive reactions to the choice. Of course the devil is in the details and it remains to be seen just how the Netflix-Microsoft relationship plays out. It could be short term until Netflix buys or builds its own capabilities. Or the two could be in it for the long term. Could there be a marriage in the future? Some observers raised the possibility of Microsoft acquiring Netflix down the line.

The alliance announced Wednesday marks a major step toward Netflix’s first foray into advertising after steadfastly refusing to include commercials in its video streaming service since its inception 15 years ago.

Amid economic uncertainty and a possible looming recession, Microsoft — a major spender in the TV space — decided to sit out of this year’s upfronts and curtail its TV advertising budget. While media buyers and TV executives don’t anticipate other high-profile advertisers to follow suit, there’s concern that spending will be condensed due to uncertainty.

The technology giant has been telling TV networks and media buyers that it intends to bypass TV’s annual haggle for commercial inventory, according to four executives familiar with recent discussions. The company behind such products and services as Windows, LinkedIn, the Halo video games and Surface tablets instead favors taking its chances in what is known as TV’s “scatter” market, the purchase of ad time bought closer to run date.

Microsoft’s acquisition of Xandr from AT&T has officially closed, the company announced Monday, allowing the company to build up its ad business — particularly in connected television and linking it to search advertising. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but reports estimate the price at about $1 billion.

The Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), a group including the BBC, New York Times, Microsoft and Adobe, is working toward a common technical standard for media provenance to push back against the deluge of disinformation and deepfakes assaulting news. Their work on content authentication is swinging into high gear this winter.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated profound changes in television production workflows that broadcasters had been inching toward for years. Virtualization, the cloud, remote desktops and other technologies are paving the way to what Mike Kralec, deputy CTO of Sinclair Broadcast Group, calls, “more dynamic operating models.” These are bringing new flexibility and efficiency to broadcast operations, according to a white paper from Teradici, Avid and Microsoft. Download it here. 

The all-cash $68.7 billion purchase of the maker of Candy Crush and Call of Duty will turn Microsoft, maker of the Xbox gaming system, into one of the world’s largest video game companies. It will also help it compete with tech rivals such as Meta, formerly Facebook, in creating immersive virtual worlds for both work and play.

Microsoft became the latest company Friday to drop out of physically participating in the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) amid a surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the omicron variant.