Microsoft is buying 100 megawatts of solar capacity from Japanese developer Shizen Energy, the latest in a string of renewable energy deals designed to power the tech company's growing compute needs. The agreement, which the companies announced late last week, covers four different solar developments; one is already operating and three are under construction. The deal covers output from the plants for 20 years. Seattle-based Microsoft already operates two data centers in Japan. Microsoft's compute capacity is slated to expand as the company invests $2.9 billion in the country over the next year.
If you're looking to upgrade your laptop, there are already some solid Prime Day laptop deals available. While this season's Prime Day (formally known as Prime Big Deal Days) doesn't start until Tuesday, major brands like Apple, HP, Dell and Microsoft are offering up early discounts-including 21% off the Microsoft Surface Pro (our pick for the best 2-in-1 laptop for working from home) and 25% off the Dell 14 Plus (our favorite Dell laptop overall).
Shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) gained 2.30% over the past five trading sessions after losing 0.82% the five prior. That brings MSFT's year-to-date gain to 24.16%, including a nearly 47% gain since its year -to-date low on April 8. The company's reported strong Q2 earnings on July 30. The Magnificent Seven mainstay reported EPS of $3.65 versus analysts' expectations of $3.35, while quarterly revenue came in at $76.44 billion.
He says, 'Hold on for a second. You mean to tell me you're leaving this company for some tiny, little internet bookstore that nobody's ever heard of ... that has got to be the stupidest decision I've ever heard anyone made,' Risher recalled.
Althoff left Oracle nearly 13 years ago to join Microsoft as its executive VP and chief commercial officer. He set up the Microsoft Customer and Partner Solutions (MCAPS) division to handle enterprise and partner sales, which Nadella called the company's "most important growth engine." He will now oversee all of Microsoft's commercial operations, including sales, marketing, and operations. Nadella will keep his focus on engineering, including AI strategy, future technologies, and the datacenters that will support them.
Microsoft is promoting longtime sales chief Judson Althoff to an expanded role as CEO of the company's commercial business, CEO Satya Nadella announced Wednesday. Althoff's promotion and resulting reorganization will align sales, marketing, and operations at Microsoft as the company competes to win AI customers. "Our success depends on enabling commercial and public sector customers and partners to combine their human capital with new AI capabilities to change the frontier of how they operate," Nadella wrote in an email to employees and shared on Microsoft's blog.
Consumer Reports (CR), the venerable consumer rights organization known for its in-depth product testing, sent a letter to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella this week. The letter, authored by the nonprofit's policy fellow Stacey Higginbotham and director of technology policy Justin Brookman, expressed "concern about Microsoft's decision to end free ongoing support for Windows 10 next month." Consumer Reports, CR for short, isn't the first organization to come to the defense of the soon-to-be-orphaned Windows 10.
Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to stand out as a transformative force, fueling growth for select companies insulated from economic turbulence. With valuations in some tech giants like Nvidia ( NASDAQ:NVDA ) stretching thin, other players are poised to capitalize on AI's expansion. If you have $10,000 to invest - money not needed for bills or emergencies - you can turn it into more than $26,000 in just four years by investing in the following two stocks.
Microsoft is planning to make "significant investments" in its own AI chip cluster to become "self-sufficient in AI," Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman said during an all-employee town hall meeting on Thursday. Microsoft's AI strategy has so far largely relied on a partnership with OpenAI, although the companies appear to be drifting apart lately and they're locked in tense contract renegotiations right now. Suleyman's comments suggest Microsoft wants to forge its own path in AI, while still supporting OpenAI with cloud-computing services.
A prominent US Senator has called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Microsoft for "gross cybersecurity negligence," citing the company's continued use of an obsolete and vulnerable form of encryption that Windows uses by default. In a letter to FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said an investigation his office conducted into the 2024 ransomware breach of the health care giant Ascension found that default use of the RC4 encryption cipher was a direct cause.
