Microsoft

Microsoft is cutting 4,800 employees, primarily in its Xbox gaming division, as new CEO Asha Sharma admits the business is 'not healthy' and operating at unprofitable margins. The gaming industry faces broader challenges, including Sony's controversial shift to digital-only PlayStation games and a memory shortage driving up costs, while Grand Theft Auto VI's release may not resolve these systemic issues.

Microsoft is enabling Windows Backup for Organizations by default in Windows 11 26H2 for non-EU regions, requiring businesses with privacy or sovereignty concerns to opt out. The feature backs up device settings and Microsoft Store app lists for restoration on new devices, but excludes EU regions and devices with explicit backup policies disabled. Administrators are cautioned about the opt-out approach, as the feature aligns with Microsoft's goals to streamline PC transitions and cloud-first device management.

U.S. prosecutors used a persistent Windows device ID to link an alleged Scattered Spider hacker to a May 2025 intrusion at a luxury jewelry retailer. Microsoft records connected the ID to an account used during the attack and to online accounts tied to 19-year-old Peter Stokes.

The UK government's new Cyber Resilience Pledge has 60 signatories, including Marks & Spencer and Capita, despite Capita's history of cybersecurity issues. Notable absentees include Co-op, Harrods, and Jaguar Land Rover, while Microsoft and other major corporations joined the initiative.

Xbox is laying off 20% of its staff as Microsoft resets its strategy, with the CEO stating the company 'didn’t focus on the core business' and 'spread ourselves too thin'. The article references a Fortune report on the layoffs and mentions market selloffs, Bitcoin strategies, AI costs, and World Cup fan food trends.

Microsoft can track users through a unique Windows Device ID, as revealed by a hacker's arrest. The tracking capability is linked to user data associated with the device ID.

Microsoft is testing the Cloud Rebuild recovery feature in Windows 11 through the latest Insider Preview builds available to users in the Experimental channel. The feature aims to enhance system recovery options for Windows 11 users.

Microsoft is cutting thousands of jobs, with its gaming division, including Xbox, being significantly impacted due to a 'not healthy' business model. The job cuts will not be offset by AI replacements, according to Microsoft's VP.

Microsoft is cutting 3,200 jobs from its Xbox business, with new CEO Asha Sharma stating the unit is 'not healthy.' The layoffs and divestitures follow failed growth strategies and rising costs in the video game industry, which analysts say are exacerbated by expensive game development and competition from mobile gaming.

Klarna is seeking a U.S. bank charter to establish FDIC-insured services, Microsoft is cutting 4,800 jobs with a focus on its underperforming Xbox division, and the U.S. service sector saw slower growth in June but increased hiring.

Microsoft is cutting 4,800 jobs, approximately 2.1% of its global workforce, with the majority of layoffs occurring in its Xbox video game division. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced the cuts in a memo, highlighting the impact on the company's gaming sector.

GitHub, a Microsoft-owned subsidiary, offered to mail free CD-ROMs of public repositories to the first 1,000 applicants but withdrew the offer after public ridicule. The initiative, framed as a response to 'recent developments in physical media,' was speculated to mock Sony's 2028 discontinuation of optical media for PlayStation consoles. The offer included a Microsoft form for requests but was taken offline, with GitHub providing no official explanation.

Microsoft is cutting 3,200 jobs beyond its gaming division, extending layoffs beyond the Xbox department.

US Army websites oil.army.mil and ai2c.army.mil were defaced with pro-Kurdish messages and insults targeting President Donald Trump and Ambassador Tom Barrack. The defacements, achieved via 404 hijacking, affected error pages on subdomains hosted on WordPress and Microsoft cloud infrastructure. The Army took the sites offline, stating they were hosted on a legacy third-party platform unrelated to its enterprise network.

Xbox’s CEO states the business is 'not healthy' as Microsoft prepares for 3,200 layoffs. The company’s shares have dropped 20% this year, joining peers like Meta and Oracle in using layoffs to offset rising AI development costs.

Microsoft is cutting 4,800 jobs (2% of its global workforce) through a restructuring of its Xbox gaming division, with 3,200 gaming jobs eliminated and four studios being spun off or sold. The layoffs aim to redirect resources toward AI investments.

Microsoft is cutting 4,800 jobs globally, including 1,600 Xbox employees, as part of a reorganization to 'reset' its gaming division. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma stated the business is 'not healthy' due to lower profit margins compared to competitors and a 'hardware crisis' in console component costs.

Microsoft is cutting 4,800 jobs, primarily in its Xbox division, as part of a restructuring to address financial challenges and invest in AI. The company will spin off or sell four game studios, with others under review, as Xbox CEO Asha Sharma aims to improve the division's profitability by 2027.

Microsoft is cutting 4,800 jobs in its Xbox division as it resets the gaming unit due to weak margins and the industry's sharp hardware downturn.

Microsoft is cutting 4,800 jobs globally, including 1,600 at its Xbox division, as part of a reorganization to 'reset' its gaming business amid heightened competition and a 'hardware crisis.' Xbox CEO Asha Sharma stated the division operates at significantly lower margins compared to similar platform and publishing businesses.

Microsoft is cutting 4,800 jobs in its commercial business and Xbox gaming group due to shrinking revenue. The Xbox unit is downsizing and plans to spin off four gaming studios.

Microsoft's Xbox division plans to cut 3,200 employees (20% of its workforce) this fiscal year, with 1,600 layoffs announced immediately. The cuts are part of a broader Microsoft restructuring, citing poor business performance and a hardware crisis.

Microsoft announced layoffs of 4,800 employees, primarily affecting sales and Xbox divisions, as part of cost-cutting measures to fund AI infrastructure investments. The cuts include 1,600 roles in Xbox, which plans to reduce its workforce by 20% this fiscal year. The move reflects broader trends in Big Tech, with companies like Meta, Amazon, and Google also implementing job reductions.

Microsoft is cutting 4,800 roles across its Xbox and sales divisions, with hundreds more being redeployed, a year after earlier layoffs that significantly affected the Xbox gaming division.

Abdul El-Sayed is the Democratic frontrunner in Michigan after Mallory McMorrow withdrew. The bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act faces criticism for inadequate protection against electricity price hikes linked to datacenters. Carlos Giménez opposes Trump's TPS policy for Haitian migrants, and JD Vance's 2013 essay on Trump was republished by The Atlantic.

The article highlights multiple security threats, including malware spread through verified ads on Mac systems, the ConsentFix malware stealing Microsoft accounts, and vulnerabilities in Apple's Hide My Email feature. It also covers fake Google and Cloudflare verification pages distributing malware, a critical WinRAR flaw, a deceptive Perplexity Chrome extension, and security updates from Apple for iOS, MacOS, and Safari.

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., an Nvidia server assembly partner, reported a 40% quarterly sales increase driven by strong AI demand. The company anticipates continued AI rack shipments and projected growth in 2026, while major tech firms like Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft plan $725 billion in AI spending this year.

The bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act, intended to shield consumers from rising electricity costs linked to datacenters, is criticized for being largely voluntary and ineffective. Consumer advocates argue the bill, supported by Microsoft, fails to address the true costs of datacenters and may increase prices for working people.

The article discusses Microsoft's Summer Game Fest showcase featuring games like Halo, Gears of War, and Fable, as well as a translucent Xbox. The newsletter 'The Stepback' examines the bleak state of the video game industry.

Companies are shifting from tokenmaxxing to modelmaxxing, optimizing AI costs by routing tasks to appropriate models. Engineers like Morgan Linton of Bold Metrics direct teams to use specific AI models for efficiency, while companies like Uber and Microsoft adjust budgets. Model switching prioritizes cheaper models for routine tasks and pricier ones for complex work.

Japan is rapidly adopting AI software engineers like Devin to address a shrinking workforce and aging digital infrastructure. Cognition AI, the developer of Devin, is expanding in Japan, where the government faces a projected shortage of 789,000 software engineers by 2030. Sapporo’s city government used Devin to modernize over one million lines of legacy code in a fraction of the usual time.

Microsoft and Mayo Clinic are collaborating to develop a healthcare AI model. Mayo Clinic will own the model, which will be trained on de-identified patient data and initially used by its clinicians.

Microsoft's Majorana 2 quantum chip, developed with agentic AI assistance, achieves qubit lifetimes of 20 seconds and is 1,000 times more reliable than previous versions. This advancement reduces Microsoft's original development timeline by half.

A new mandatory compliance report from Microsoft reveals how the company declares profits in various European nations to minimize its tax bill. The report highlights strategies used by Microsoft to reduce its European tax obligations.

The article discusses six 20th-century thinkers—Jane Jacobs, E.F. Schumacher, Wendell Berry, Buckminster Fuller, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.—who warned about systemic failures when decision-makers become disconnected from those affected. It highlights current issues like corporate consolidation, housing unaffordability, poverty, and infrastructure challenges as evidence of this 'catastrophe.'

The European Union is revising its proposed environmental rating system for datacenters to allow cross-border use of clean energy certificates for emissions offsets, following lobbying from tech companies and industry groups. The original plan required offsets to be sourced locally, but the amendment aims to reduce operational costs for datacenter operators.

Microsoft is investing $2.5 billion in a new business unit, Microsoft Frontier, to help enterprises better use its AI tools and achieve measurable outcomes. The initiative includes 6,000 forward-deployed engineers and follows similar investments by Amazon, OpenAI, and Anthropic. Microsoft emphasizes flexibility in model selection and data protection for customers.

Three Mount Pleasant residents filed a class action lawsuit against Microsoft over noise from the Fairwater data center, alleging excessive noise from cooling fans disrupted their lives. The lawsuit seeks to represent over 1,000 households within 1.5 miles of the facility, citing physical invasion by recurrent noise.

The U.S. government reversed export controls on Anthropic’s Fable and Mythos AI models after a two-week suspension, allowing their public use. However, U.S. AI policy remains inconsistent, with ad hoc licensing practices and ongoing debates over cybersecurity frameworks. Anthropic collaborates with Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and other Glasswing partners to establish risk-assessment guidelines for AI model jailbreaks.

Apple has significantly increased prices on most of its products, including the MacBook Pro, due to quadrupled RAM costs driven by the AI boom. The price hikes affect all Mac and iPad models, with RAM shortages impacting industries beyond consumer electronics.