Microsoft

Microsoft quietly axes Skype credit and phone number sales to push subscriptions

Apps /

Bad news for anyone out there who still uses Skype: the Microsoft-owned phone and messaging platform has quietly stopped letting users top-up accounts with credit and buy Skype phone numbers. Instead, Skype is locking into SaaS mode: it’s pushing users to take monthly subscriptions for regional and global Skype-to-phone plans, for a set monthly fee, […]

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Microsoft will take an $800M hit over Cruise robotaxi shutdown

Transportation /

GM’s decision to shut down its Cruise robotaxi program continues to ripple through the market, extending to the self-driving car company’s minority investors. Microsoft, which in 2021 made an investment into Cruise, will take $800 million impairment charge as a result of GM’s actions, according to a regulatory filing. Microsoft said the charge will be

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Microsoft begins testing the ability to share files between iPhones and Windows PCs

Apps /

Microsoft announced on Wednesday that it’s starting to roll out a way for users to share files between their iPhone and Windows 11 or Windows 10 PCs via the company’s Phone Link app and Link to Windows app. The capability is rolling out now to Windows Insiders. Windows Insiders can now download the latest Phone

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Russian government spies targeted Ukraine using tools developed by cybercriminals

Security /

A Russian-government backed hacking group targeted Ukraine’s military using tools and infrastructure developed by cybercriminals, according to new research. On Wednesday, Microsoft published a report detailing a hacking campaign carried out by a group it calls Secret Blizzard, which the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) previously said “is almost certainly subordinate to the

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OpenAI considers ditching provision that would prevent AGI from being used for commercial gain

AI /

According to the Financial Times, OpenAI is considering ditching a provision that would shut Microsoft, a major partner and investor, out of its most advanced technology when OpenAI achieves artificial general intelligence (AGI). Exactly when OpenAI creates AGI, which the startup defines as “highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at most economically valuable work,” is

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Copilot Vision, Microsoft’s AI tool that can read your screen, launches in preview

Apps /

Microsoft’s AI can now read your screen — or rather, the websites you’re browsing. On Thursday, the company began rolling out a limited, U.S.-only preview of Copilot Vision, a tool that can understand and respond to questions about sites you’re visiting using Microsoft Edge. Gated behind Copilot Labs, an opt-in program for experimental AI capabilities,

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FTC reportedly opens antitrust investigation into Microsoft

Government & Policy /

The FTC has launched an antitrust investigation into Microsoft, according to multiple reports that corroborate earlier reporting by the Financial Times. The agency is said to be looking into whether Microsoft violated antitrust law in multiple segments of its business, including its public cloud, AI, and cybersecurity product lines. Of particular interest to the FTC

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Inflection CEO says it’s done trying to make next generation AI models

Enterprise /

Just last year, Inflection AI was as hot as a startup could be, releasing best-in-class AI models it claimed could outperform technology from OpenAI, Meta, and Google. That’s a stark contrast compared to today, as Inflection’s new CEO tells TechCrunch that his startup is simply no longer trying to compete on that front. Between then

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This Week in AI: Congressional commission warns of Chinese AGI

AI /

Hiya, folks, welcome to TechCrunch’s regular AI newsletter. If you want this in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. America’s AI war with China is intensifying — or at least, the rhetoric around it is. On Tuesday, a U.S. congressional commission proposed a “Manhattan Project-style” effort to fund the development of AI systems with human-level

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