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Why Microsoft is switching up its Xbox strategy

Feb 16, 2024
Microsoft sees the change in strategy as a revenue opportunity, explains Tom Warren, senior editor at The Verge.
Why might Xbox want to bring Xbox-exclusive games to rival consoles? For "the revenue opportunity," said The Verge's Tom Warren.
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AI has helped Microsoft beat Apple to become the most valuable company in the world

Jan 30, 2024
And investors will be hoping for more good news on that front when the company announces quarterly earnings.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at an OpenAI event on Nov. 6, 2023.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Microsoft is adding a dedicated AI key to its keyboards

Jan 4, 2024
The key will launch Copilot, Microsoft's AI assistant program. But whether users will take to it is an open question.
On Thursday, Microsoft announced that it would be adding an AI key to PC keyboards. With just one tap, the key opens up Microsoft Copilot, the company’s AI helper.
Courtesy Microsoft

The new phase of the Microsoft-Google rivalry: AI and the cloud

Oct 25, 2023
Google, aka Alphabet, and Microsoft are longtime rivals. Lately, Microsoft has been on the offensive, building strength in key areas of tech.
Microsoft invested in OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, which is now integrated into the Bing search engine.
Lionel Bonaventure/AFP via Getty Images

The video game business is hoping streaming games from the cloud will attract new players

Oct 13, 2023
A $15-a-month subscription may be more attractive than dropping $500 on a console.
Cloud gaming sales hit about $5 billion last year, compared to about $35 billion for console games.
Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images

Big Tech is buying into the early carbon-removal market

Sep 7, 2023
Microsoft is paying $200 million to a company using crushed rock to absorb carbon, and the Frontier consortium is backing emerging technology.
Investing in emerging environmental technology "signals to consumers or to their customers that this is a company that's a leader, that's ahead of the game," said Daniel Korschun, a marketing professor at Drexel University.
Tim Heitman/Getty Images for BIG3

What the FTC's Microsoft-Activision loss might mean for future mergers

Jul 12, 2023
Microsoft can proceed with its purchase, but fighting the FTC's antitrust lawsuit came with a lot of scrutiny.
This ruling marks a defeat for the Federal Trade Commission, which has brought a number of antitrust challenges to these kinds of vertical mergers.
Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

A UK regulator has blocked the Microsoft-Activision merger. But don't blame it on Brexit.

Apr 26, 2023
Some experts say the decision is rooted in the U.K.'s efforts to develop its own tech industry.
The United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority said a merger of Microsoft and Activision Blizzard would hamper innovation and reduce choice for gamers.
Belinda Jiao/Getty Images

As search engines race to incorporate ChatGPT technology, where does that leave digital advertisers?

Feb 7, 2023
Microsoft's latest version of Bing includes answers generated by ChatGPT tech. Here's what that could mean for sponsored links and content publishers.
Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty

FTC sues to block Microsoft-Activision Blizzard $69 billion merger

Dec 8, 2022
The Federal Trade Commission said Microsoft's planned takeover could suppress competitors.
Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images