Microsoft | TechCrunch

Minecraft is entering the real world

Kyle Wiggers — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 15:44:14 +0000

Minecraft is entering the real world — sort of. The Guardian reports that Microsoft, the owner of the Minecraft video game franchise, has struck a deal with European theme park operator Merlin Entertainments to open Minecraft-themed attractions, including rides, retail outlets, and hotel rooms. Merlin plans to invest more than $110 million in the first […]

Microsoft built a PC that can’t run local apps

Kyle Wiggers — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 13:30:47 +0000

Prefer to offload all your Windows tasks to the cloud? Microsoft may just have the compact, desk-bound computer for you. On Tuesday at Microsoft Ignite 2024, the tech giant unveiled Windows 365 Link, a fanless, lightweight PC that connects to Windows 365. Windows 365 is a cloud-hosted, virtual Windows machine — like a typical Windows […]

Windows comes to the Meta Quest

Kyle Wiggers — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 13:30:16 +0000

If Windows in mixed reality sounds like your idea of a good time, rejoice. Microsoft said on Tuesday at Microsoft Ignite 2024 it’s bringing the “full capabilities” of Windows 11 to the Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S in December as part of a public preview. “Full capabilities,” in this context, means that you’ll be […]

Microsoft to launch new custom chips for data processing, security

Kyle Wiggers — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 13:30:05 +0000

Microsoft on Tuesday revealed new custom chips aimed at powering workloads on its Azure cloud and bolstering security, particularly a new hardware accelerator that can manage data processing, networking, and storage-related tasks. The Azure Boost DPU is Microsoft’s first data processing unit, designed for “data-centric workloads with high efficiency and low power,” the company said. […]

Microsoft beefs up Windows security with new recovery and patching features

Kyle Wiggers — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 13:30:02 +0000

In the aftermath of the devastating CrowdStrike outage this July, Microsoft vowed to do better even though it insisted that the event was an aberration. Evidently unwilling to take chances (or risk further hits to its credibility), the company on Tuesday, during Microsoft Ignite 2024, shared how it’s making changes to Windows to prevent similar […]

Microsoft brings together its enterprise AI offerings in the Azure AI Foundry

Frederic Lardinois — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 13:30:00 +0000

At its annual Ignite conference, Microsoft on Tuesday announced the Azure AI Foundry, a new offering that brings together a number of Microsoft’s existing AI services for enterprises under a single umbrella. Azure AI Studio, Microsoft’s hub for building generative AI-based applications, is the management console and portal for the AI Foundry. “Business leaders are […]

Microsoft and Atom Computing will launch a commercial quantum computer in 2025

Frederic Lardinois — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 13:30:00 +0000

Quantum computing is getting there. After years of slow but steady development to create a useful quantum computer that can outperform classical machines, we’re still squarely in the “noisy intermediate-scale quantum era.” However, many of the pieces needed for building more advanced — and stable — machines are starting to fall into place now. At […]

Indian news agency sues OpenAI alleging copyright infringement

Manish Singh — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 07:56:51 +0000

One of India's largest news agencies has sued OpenAI in a case that could set a precedent for how AI companies use copyrighted news content.

Text marketing firm Blip secures backing from SoftBank, Microsoft

Kyle Wiggers — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 12:00:16 +0000

Take Blip, a conversational marketing platform, has raised $60 million in funding from SoftBank and Microsoft.

Microsoft bets a carbon removal bake-off will help offset its skyrocketing AI emissions

Tim De Chant — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 17:23:57 +0000

Microsoft is buying 10,000 tons of carbon credits from Deep Sky, a direct air capture developer.

Musk’s amended lawsuit against OpenAI names Microsoft as defendant

Kyle Wiggers — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 04:22:47 +0000

Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI accusing the company of abandoning its nonprofit mission was withdrawn in July, only to be revived in August. Now, in an amended complaint, the suit names new defendants, including Microsoft, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and former OpenAI board member and Microsoft VP Dee Templeton. The amended filing also adds new […]

FTC reportedly begins investigating Microsoft’s cloud business practices

Kyle Wiggers — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 23:17:43 +0000

The FTC is reportedly readying an investigation into whether Microsoft used anti-competitive tactics to maintain a dominant position in the cloud market. According to Financial Times, the agency is looking into allegations that Microsoft imposed punitive licensing agreements to prevent customers from moving data off its platforms. Sources told FT that the FTC is also […]

Microsoft Outlook now lets you create personalized AI-powered themes

Aisha Malik — Thu, 07 Nov 2024 17:26:04 +0000

Microsoft announced on Thursday that Outlook is getting a new feature that will allow you to use generative AI to create themes based on your personal preferences. AI-powered themes are available to people who have a Copilot Pro consumer subscription and business accounts with Copilot enabled. They are available on iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, and […]

Microsoft and a16z set aside differences, join hands in plea against AI regulation

Devin Coldewey — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 22:48:13 +0000

Two of the biggest forces in two deeply intertwined tech ecosystems — large incumbents and startups — have taken a break from counting their money to jointly plead that the government desist from even pondering regulations that might affect their financial interests, or as they prefer to call them, innovation. “Our two companies might not […]

Google-backed Open Cloud Coalition launches to lobby European lawmakers

Paul Sawers — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 23:00:00 +0000

Europe has a new lobbying body, one with a self-stated mission to “improve competition, transparency and resilience” in the cloud computing sector. The Open Cloud Coalition (OCC) counts 10 members at launch, the most notable of which is Google, supported by international and local cloud providers Centerprise International, Civo, Gigas, ControlPlane, DTP Group, Prolinx, Pulsant, […]

Microsoft accuses Google of ‘shadow campaign’ to influence cloud regulation in Europe

Paul Sawers — Mon, 28 Oct 2024 20:30:37 +0000

The European cloud wars are heating up. Microsoft has accused its old foe Google of waging a clandestine war against the Azure cloud company, to curry favor with policymakers and antitrust authorities in Europe. In a blog post today, Microsoft deputy general counsel Rima Alaily preempted the imminent launch of a new lobby group called […]

Microsoft could end up with substantial equity in the restructured, for-profit OpenAI

Kyle Wiggers — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 16:07:54 +0000

How much equity in OpenAI will Microsoft get once the former becomes a for-profit company? That’s the multibillion-dollar question — one the two parties are racing to answer ahead of a two-year deadline. The Wall Street Journal reports that both Microsoft and OpenAI have hired investment banks to negotiate Microsoft’s equity — which could be […]

The surprising way OpenAI could get out of its pact with Microsoft

Connie Loizos — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 06:39:20 +0000

The New York Times on Thursday published a look at the “fraying” relationship between OpenAI and its investor, partner, and, increasingly, rival, Microsoft, reporting their five-year romance has cooled owing to financial pressure on OpenAI, the limited computing power Microsoft is providing OpenAI, and disagreements between the two about ground rules. Most fascinating perhaps is […]

Microsoft said it lost weeks of security logs for its customers’ cloud products

Zack Whittaker — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 19:06:12 +0000

Missing logs could make it more difficult to identify unauthorized access to the customers' networks during that two-week window.

Marc Benioff warns that AI, while useful, is overhyped and partly blames Microsoft

Julie Bort — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 18:23:33 +0000

One of the tech industry’s biggest hype men, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, is psyched about AI, but points out that it hasn't cured cancer.