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☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Hims & Hers Health, Norwegian Cruise Line, Target and more
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Wix.com — The web development company jumped more than 25% after it posted better-than-expected first-quarter results. Norwegian Cruise Line — The cruise line operator jumped more than 8% after Norwegian Cruise Line lifted its full-year earnings guidance. It also reported better-than-expected first-quarter results. Hasbro — Shares gained 3% after Morgan Stanley called Hasbro a top pick, saying its recent underperformance gives investors a strong entry point. Uranium stocks have recently gained after President Joe Biden signed a bill banning imports of Russian uranium for nuclear fuel.

Persons: Wix.com, Li Auto, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Johnson, Elliott, Joe Biden, NuScale, — CNBC's Michelle Fox, Lisa Kailai Han, Alex Harring, Samantha Subin Organizations: Norwegian Cruise, Target, GameStop, Micron Technology, Hasbro —, Hasbro, Bloomberg News, Elliott Management, Nvidia, Microsoft, Dell Technologies Locations: Norwegian, U.S, NextDecade's Rio

☆ The Magnificent 7 companies are worth a combined $14 trillion — here's how much their CEOs make
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-18 | by ( Ana Altchek | Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

The "Magnificent Seven" companies include Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. Here's who earns the most, how much they all made last year, and how it breaks down. Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementThe "Magnificent Seven" companies — Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Tesla — have a combined value of nearly $14 trillion.

Persons: Tesla, trillions, Here's, —, Tim Cook's, Andy Jassy Organizations: Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Service, Big Tech, Business

☆ Microsoft asks some employees in China to move to other countries
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-16 | by ( Diksha Madhok | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Microsoft has asked at least 100 of its employees in China to consider moving to other countries, according to Chinese state media reports. Microsoft employees, mostly involved with cloud computing, were recently offered the opportunity to work in the United States, Australia or Ireland, among other countries, state-run outlet The Paper said in a report Wednesday, citing an unnamed source. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Microsoft asked as many as 800 employees — mostly engineers with Chinese nationality working on cloud computing and AI — to consider relocating. In a statement reported by Reuters, Microsoft (MSFT) said providing internal opportunities for some employees was part of its regular business and the company remained committed to China. In recent months, the United States has also enlisted its allies in Europe and Asia in restricting sales of advanced chipmaking equipment to China.

Persons: —, Biden, Joe Biden Organizations: CNN, Microsoft, Street, The, Reuters, Microsoft Research Locations: China, Beijing, Washington, United States, Australia, Ireland, Europe, Asia

☆ Stock market today: US futures climb as traders await crucial 'Magnificent 7' earnings reports
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

US stock futures climbed in premarket trading on Monday ahead of a big week of earnings reports. US GDP and inflation data could also move markets this week. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementInvestors will hope that the tech giants can give the market a much-needed boost, with artificial intelligence likely to be in focus.

Persons: Tesla, —, Johnson, Kathleen Brooks Organizations: Microsoft, Service, Nasdaq, Dow Jones, ExxonMobil, Johnson

☆ Microsoft is about to pump billions more into AI data centers
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Microsoft plans to invest $2.9 billion in AI data centers in Japan by 2025, according to reports. In November, Microsoft announced it'd spend roughly $3 billion on AI data centers in the UK. AdvertisementMicrosoft is investing some serious capital in new AI data centers, and Japan is the latest country to benefit. The tech giant plans to pour $2.9 billion into AI data centers in Japan by 2025, according to reports in Reuters and Nikkei Asia. As part of its investment — the company's largest ever in Japan — Microsoft will place advanced AI semiconductors in two of Japan's existing data centers, Nikkei Asia reported.

Persons: it'd, — Organizations: Microsoft, Service, Nikkei, Business Locations: Japan, Nikkei Asia

☆ Microsoft warns China will use AI to try to influence US elections
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-05 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A new report from Microsoft shows how Chinese social-media accounts have used AI. The accounts target East Asian countries but also aim to influence US elections, per the report. AdvertisementMicrosoft says in a new report that China will use AI-generated media to influence elections in East Asian countries and the US. AdvertisementMany of the Chinese social-media messages ask followers to comment about which presidential candidates they support. Microsoft said the "accounts could be operating to increase intelligence gathering around key voting demographics within the United States."

Persons: —, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Trump Organizations: Microsoft, CCP, Service, Microsoft Threat Intelligence, National Intelligence, Chinese Communist Party, Reuters, CIA Locations: China, East, East Asia, Hawaii, Kentucky, United States, PRC

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Micron Technology, Cameco, MicroStrategy, Universal Health Services and more
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Cameco — Shares rose more than 5% after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of the uranium producer with a buy rating, saying there is more than 25% upside. Microsoft — Microsoft shares rose 0.7% following a report from The Information, citing unnamed sources, saying Microsoft and OpenAI are planning a $100 billion data center project. Super Micro Computer shares rose 2.5%. Universal Health Services — Shares fell after Universal Health Services said in a regulatory filing its subsidiary Pavilion Behavioral Health was ordered to pay $60 million in compensatory damages and $475 million in punitive damages. MicroStrategy — Shares slipped more than 3% after Michael Saylor, executive chairman of MicroStrategy, sold nearly 4,000 shares of MicroStrategy stock last week, according to a regulatory filing .

Persons: Cameco, Goldman Sachs, Semtech, Robinson, Brandon Oglenski, Bill Holdings, Wells, Bill, Tesla, Tommy Bahama, Michael Saylor, InterDigital's, — CNBC's Brian Evans, Lisa Kailai Han, Alex Harring, Tanaya Macheel, Jesse Pound Organizations: Micron Technology —, Bank of America, Microsoft, Western Digital, Micro Computer, Hunt Transport, C.H, Barclays, . Oxford Industries, Citi, Universal Health Services, Behavioral Health Locations: North America

So we have to talk about the drama that has been playing out in the past week between OpenAI and Elon Musk. According to OpenAI, Elon Musk wanted majority, equity, initial board control, and to be CEO of this new for-profit subsidiary. It’s basically —casey newtonIt’s like, I’m going to find a way to follow your rule, but in the worst way possible. Like, working was one I thought that, oh, I’m going to work in this all the time. kevin roose[LAUGHS]: Well, I thought, like, I’m going to take some spatial videos.

Persons: casey newton Casey, kevin roose, casey newton, Kevin, casey newton What’s, Kevin Roose, Casey Newton, OpenAI, Will, Joanna Stern, Casey, it’s, kevin roose I’m, Elon Musk, It’s, casey newton Let’s, Elon, he’s, I’ve, casey newton What’d, there’s, you’ve, we’re, GPT, Sam Altman’s, that’s, AGI, Annie “, Sam Altman, who’s, isn’t, “, we’ve, ” casey newton Go, He’s, Ilya Sutskever, Greg Brockman, Ilya, casey newton Yes, Tesla, casey newton Well, they’ll, casey newton Oh, kevin roose It’s, don’t, kevin roose Will, casey newton Right, casey newton Mhm, kevin roose They’re, Microsoft’s Bing, Microsoft Bing, Bing, Apple, Europe — casey newton, Charles Duhigg, John Gruber, they’ve, casey newton It’d, — casey newton, they’re, They’ve, you’ll, Apple’s, casey newton It’s, I’ll, casey newton Sure, GDPR, you’re, kevin roose Really, let’s, kevin roose Casey, kevin roose —, Jonah Stern, casey newton Wow, Joanna, Let’s, kevin roose Joanna Stern, joanna, casey newton Hi, kevin roose Long, joanna stern, —, kevin roose We’re, Kara Swisher, kevin roose Don’t, I’m, casey newton Don’t, casey newton That’s, Neil Patel, Um, kevin roose That’s, kevin roose Sure, casey newton Great, KEVIN, IV, wearables, Fitbits, kevin roose Oh, hadn’t, casey newton —, casey newton I’ve, Joe Rogan Organizations: The New York Times, Elon, Apple’s, OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, Google’s, Facebook, Tesla, Big, European Union, Digital Services, Giants, Apple, Digital Markets, EU, Bloomberg, Digital, Spotify, General, Apple Vision Pro, Street, Apple Vision, Vision, New York Times, “, Housewives, Club, Ray, Tesla Chargers, Vision Pro, Apple Watch, Sony Locations: Los Angeles, Europe, what’s, Elon, OpenAI, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Reddit, American, America, California, Florida, United, Mars, The

☆ Premarket stocks: This rally is nearly unprecedented. Can it last?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Just last week the S&P 500 hit a new all-time high and notched its best showing in a year. But this nearly unprecedented surge in the markets is sparking some concern over what’s driving the rally and whether it can continue. The S&P 500 and Dow last week each reached record levels after blockbuster earnings from the chipmaker set off a broad market rally. The S&P 500 is up more than 6% for the year, but when you equally weigh all of the stocks in the index, it’s up just 2.5%. Last year, the S&P 500 rose by 24.2%, but the equally-weighted index was up by just 11.6%.

Persons: Sam Stovall, Tesla, Jamie Dimon, ” Dimon, CNBC’s Leslie Picker, That’s, ”, What’s, Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, Eva Rothenberg, Buffett, Gary Pilnick’s, WK Kellogg, Pilnick, Bran, ” Pilnick, hasn’t, Carl Quintanilla Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, New York CNN —, Nvidia, Dow, Nasdaq, Health, Tech, Deutsche Bank, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google, JPMorgan, Federal Reserve, Traders, PCE, Berkshire, CNBC Locations: New York, Berkshire, Omaha , Nebraska, Omaha, United States

☆ Why the Microsoft default font change from Calibri to Aptos upset some users
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Catherine E. Shoichet | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

The default font in her Word document was different, even though she hadn’t done anything to change it. Some die-hards even expressed their continued devotion to Times New Roman, the default font Calibri unseated in 2007. Is it arguably somewhat ridiculous to get worked up over a font change? pic.twitter.com/fV9thfdAr4 — Microsoft (@Microsoft) April 28, 2021The company has said the advent of higher resolution screens was a big factor behind their search for a successor. What’s going on?’”A graphic released by Microsoft detailing its new default font, Aptos.

Persons: Stef Luthin squinted, “, ” Luthin, Luthin, she’d, ’ ” Luthin, Calibri, —, — –, ”, she’s, “ I’ve, Thomas Phinney, Elle Cordova, ” Aptos, ” Calibri, ” Cordova, Steve Matteson, Cordova, Siri, Alexa, Aptos, “ We’ve, we’ve, Matteson, Carl Kasell, Stephen Colbert, Phinney, ” Phinney, he’s, What’s, Luthin’s TikTok, Joel Payne, Payne, who’s, Katherine Stockton, “ Aptos, it’s, There’s, they’ll, we’ll Organizations: CNN, Microsoft, Times, Aptos, YouTube, LinkedIn Locations: Chicago, ”, —, California, Colorado, Santa Cruz , California, Vancouver , British Columbia, Cambridge, England, Stockton, who’s

☆ VCs are clamoring to back 'screaming hot' startups using AI for medical records
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Another AI medical records startup, DeepScribe, raised a $30 million Series A round in January 2022. AbridgeThe investor descent on medical-scribe startups reflects a blatant potential of automation tech to alleviate healthcare’s most critical issues. “This market is screaming hot,” said Bryan Roberts, a partner at Venrock and an investor in medical-scribe startup Suki. AdvertisementStill, as health systems increasingly adopt AI solutions to manage labor costs, these startups have room to grow into their valuations. Medical-scribe startups vying for the remaining slice of the pie are “in a pitch to the death,” Roberts said.

Persons: —, ’, Kleiner Perkins, Andreessen Horowitz, Suki, Punit Soni, Shiv Rao, ”, Bryan Roberts, ” Roberts, Annie Case, Case, Hermann, Keith Srakocic, Roberts, there’s, “ Organizations: Service, Business, Healthcare, Fund, Optum Ventures, Medical, Cathay Innovation, Microsoft, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, University of Kansas Health, AP

☆ Stanley Druckenmiller exits Alphabet, keeps winning AI plays Nvidia and Microsoft
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller dumped his stake in Google's Alphabet entirely last quarter, while keeping his high-conviction bets on artificial intelligence through Microsoft and Nvidia . Druckenmiller's Duquesne Family Office sold $112 million worth of Alphabet shares last quarter, according to a regulatory filing. His firm briefly held Alphabet in the first quarter of 2023, sold it the next quarter and entered the stock again in the third quarter. He said he has been betting on the space through two stocks — Microsoft and Nvidia. But Druckenmiller, a Bowdoin College grad, bought call options on Nvidia with a notional value of $242 million last quarter.

Persons: Stanley Druckenmiller, Druckenmiller, George Soros, Soros, Tempur Sealy Organizations: Microsoft, Nvidia, Druckenmiller's Duquesne Family, Bowdoin College grad, Sohn Investment, Quantum Fund, Duquesne Capital Management, Arista Networks, Woodward, Flex Ltd, Barrick Gold, Marvell Technology

But the blog does offer insight into how U.S. geopolitical rivals have been using large-language models to expand their ability to more effectively breach networks and conduct influence operations. But criminals and offensive hackers use it as well, and the introduction of large-language models led by OpenAI's ChatGPT upped that game of cat-and-mouse. — Iran's Revolutionary Guard has used large-language models to assist in social engineering, in troubleshooting software errors, and even in studying how intruders might evade detection in a compromised network. “Of course bad actors are using large-language models — that decision was made when Pandora’s Box was opened," said Amit Yoran, CEO of the cybersecurity firm Tenable. Some cybersecurity professionals complain about Microsoft's creation and hawking of tools to address vulnerabilities in large-language models when it might more responsibly focus on making them more secure.

Persons: —, OpenAI, ”, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Malaysia —, Amit Yoran, Gary McGraw, Edward Amoroso Organizations: BOSTON, — Microsoft, Microsoft, Korean, Guard, Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Security Agency, Google, Meta, Berryville Institute of Machine Learning, NYU, T Locations: Iran, North Korea, Russia, China, Redmond, Washington, OpenAI, Russian, Ukraine, France, Malaysia

☆ Long cash and short tech: The ultimate contrarian trades as investors turn the most bullish in 2 years
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Investor sentiment has turned so bullish that Bank of America's Michael Hartnett thinks it's time to consider a few contrarian trades. For the first time since April 2022, investors stopped predicting a recession in the U.S., the BofA survey showed. The Wall Street firm's widely followed investment strategist Hartnett is recommending a few contrarian trades for a "hard landing" scenario this year. He said investors could go long cash and defensive stocks, while shorting technology shares that have led the market rally over the past year. For a "no landing" scenario, where the economy would continue to grow but inflation stays high, the strategist recommends buying commodities, energy stocks as well as the greenback.

Persons: America's Michael Hartnett, Hartnett Organizations: America's, Survey, Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Tesla, Bank of America Locations: U.S

☆ Berkshire Hathaway topped $600,000 a share last week, aiming at $1 trillion market value
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-11 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The swift rally has pushed Berkshire's market cap above $863 billion as of Friday's close, making it the seventh most valuable company in the U.S. Road to 600k It took Berkshire Class A shares about two years to go from $500,000 to $600,000. In terms of market cap weighting and earnings contribution to the S & P 500, Berkshire is now the best candidate to join the crowd, Strategas said. High price tag Berkshire's original Class A shares carry one of the highest price tags on Wall Street . Berkshire's Class B shares have gained more than 11% this year and also hit an intraday record of $399.15 earlier this week.

Persons: Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, Tesla, Tesla —, Eli Lilly, Strategas, Buffett, Ben Graham Organizations: U.S, BNSF Railway, Geico Insurance, U.S ., PetroChina, Alleghany, Occidental Petroleum, Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Tesla, Strategas Securities, Broadcom Locations: Warren Buffett's, U.S, Omaha, Berkshire, Saudi Aramco

BENGALURU, India (AP) — Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella urged in a speech to more than a thousand Indian computer code developers on Thursday that they use the company's artificial intelligence tools being deployed across its products. Nadella said Microsoft Corp. expects that use of AI can help achieve 10%, or $500 billion, of India’s GDP target for 2025. Microsoft is building its fourth data center in India near the city of Hyderabad, where Nadella grew up. Nadella boasted in a speech in Mumbai on Wednesday that his company is still ahead on most benchmarks. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Nadella during a visit to the U.S. last June.

Persons: Satya Nadella, ” Nadella, Nadella, ”, “ We’re, It’ll, Narendra Modi, ___ O'Brien Organizations: Microsoft Corp, Microsoft, Hyderabad, OpenAI, Google, Nadella, Apple Inc, Microsoft's, Indian, U.S Locations: BENGALURU, India, Bengaluru, Silicon, United States, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Nadella, Microsoft's India, Providence , Rhode Island

☆ A CIO at a $2 trillion asset manager says the Magnificent 7 are too expensive, and shares which sectors investors should focus on and which to avoid in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Marco Pirondini, the CIO of Amundi US, shared the same sentiments as his colleague and warned investors about following the crowd this year. In a recent interview with Business Insider, Pirondini emphasized the advantages of adding longer-duration bonds at a time when yields remain near 5%. He noted that the asset class was a great way to ensure steady yields in a complex economic environment. When interest rates were lower, you could justify paying higher multiples. After the stress that banks endured in 2023, they are expected to be the beneficiaries of dropping interest rates, he said.

Persons: Craig Sterling, Marco Pirondini, Pirondini Organizations: Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Business, Amundi, NYSE Locations: Japan

☆ Algorithms, bias and hallucinations: 20 important AI terms investors should know
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-04 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | In Kevinstankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +25 min

Generative AI Neural networks are the heart of the increasingly popular type of AI known as generative artificial intelligence , or gen AI for short. Both traditional AI and gen AI systems rely on data and can be used to automate decision-making tasks. Microsoft's AI virtual assistant Copilot — which went live in November — is perhaps the most prominent generative AI feature among our portfolio companies. Bias Bias is another downside to AI systems — and LLMs in particular — that users need to consider. While GPUs have the upper hand in AI training, CPUs are understood to perform AI inference well.

Persons: OpenAI's, —, We've, that's, Chirag Shah, Shah, Mark Riedl, Bruce Springsteen, Einstein, Copilot —, Springsteen, OpenAI, it's, Riedl, Harry Potter, I've, ChatGPT, University of Washington's Shah, there's, he'd, Georgia Tech's Riedl, LLMs that's, Georgia Tech's, Meta, Grace Hopper Superchip, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim Organizations: Broadcom, Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia, Apple, Chirag, University of Washington, Google, Georgia Tech's School of Interactive Computing, YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, Facebook, Reuters, U.S, University of Washington's, OpenAI, New York Times, Club, Jim Cramer's Charitable, CNBC Locations: Silicon Valley, Barcelona, U.S, WhatsApp, Istanbul, Georgia

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Microsoft Corp. said Tuesday that its profit for the October-December quarter soared 33%, powered by its significant investments in artificial intelligence technology. The company said that increase largely reflected growth in its cloud-computing unit, where Microsoft focuses most of its AI investments. “Microsoft is firmly establishing itself as a frontrunner in the AI race,” said Jeremy Goldman, director of briefings at Insider Intelligence. In addition to other benefits, Goldman suggested that AI technology could help expand Microsoft’s share of digital advertising. That merger boosted Microsoft's revenue growth by four points, according to James Ambrose, the company's director of investor relations.

Persons: ”, Jeremy Goldman, Goldman, James Ambrose, Microsoft's Organizations: FRANCISCO, — Microsoft Corp, Microsoft, Intelligence, Google, FactSet Research, Activision, Revenue Locations: Redmond, Washington

☆ A lower-cost way to get long this 'Magnificent 7' member trading at an all-time high
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-29 | by ( Michael Khouw | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The five reporting this week — Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta — represent more than 23% of the index by market capitalization. But let's focus on Microsoft (MSFT) . Breaking down MSFT fundamentals Microsoft is one of the most important technology companies in the world. Over the past five years, Microsoft's price-to-earnings ratio has been as low as 25.8 and as high as 41. Some are anticipating organic sales growth of 15%, double the 7.5% average the company experienced over the past 4 quarters.

Persons: OpenAI, Sam Altman, Satya Nadella Organizations: Microsoft, Apple, Meta, Saudi Arabian Oil Company, Windows, Activision Blizzard

☆ Microsoft's $3 trillion market cap milestone is the latest in a string of wins for Big Tech's elder statesman
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In today's big story, we're looking at Microsoft notching another big win by briefly reaching a $3 trillion valuation. It's an impressive run for a company often viewed as the least sexy in Big Tech. 3 things in marketsInstagram/grandmabetty33The stock market is looking gray, and that's a bad thing. A famed economist said you shouldn't confuse a booming stock market with a strong economy. Nobel economist Paul Krugman recently wrote about how consumers feel too optimistic about the economy due to the current stock market rally.

Persons: —, Ethan Miller, Phil Rosen, OpenAI, Ashley Stewart, Tim Matsui, Ashley, That's, it's, It'll, aren't, We're, Taylor, Paul Krugman, Patrick Pleul, Mark Zuckerberg, Marc Benioff chatted, Brad Barket, Jon Stewart, Stewart, Trevor Noah, Donald Trump, Jean Carroll's Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Big, Rosenberg Research, AP Tesla, EV, Microsoft Windows, Walmart, Comedy Central, Bank of America, Intel, Visa, Southwest Airlines, Comcast Locations: Big Tech

NEW YORK (AP) — Microsoft is laying off about 1,900 employees in its gaming division, according to an internal company memo, just over three months since the tech giant completed its $69 million purchase of video game maker Activision Blizzard. Those impacted worked on teams for Activision Blizzard as well as Xbox and ZeniMax — which are also owned by Microsoft. “As we move forward in 2024, the leadership of Microsoft Gaming and Activision Blizzard is committed to aligning on a strategy and an execution plan with a sustainable cost structure that will support the whole of our growing business,” Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer wrote in the memo. The union deal was part of a 2022 agreement with the CWA that helped address U.S. political concerns about the merger’s effects. So far, however, only a small set of Activision Blizzard divisions have formed unions.

Persons: Activision Blizzard, Phil Spencer, Mike Ybarra, ” Ybarra, “, ”, _________________ O'Brien Organizations: Microsoft, Activision, Associated Press, Activision Blizzard, Microsoft Gaming, Twitter, European Union, The U.S . Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Google, Riot, eBay, Communications Workers, CWA Locations: United Kingdom, European, U.S, Canada, Providence , Rhode Island

☆ Alphabet cuts ties with Australian AI firm that helped train Bard and Google Search
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai departs federal court on October 30, 2023 in Washington, DC. Appen, based in Australia, has helped train AI models for a star-studded list of tech behemoths. Five customers — Microsoft , Apple , Meta , Google and Amazon — have in the past accounted for 80% of Appen's revenue. Alphabet accounted for roughly one-third of Appen's revenue, meaning the decision to end the relationship will impact "at least two thousand subcontracted Alphabet workers," according to a statement Monday from the Alphabet Workers Union. Alphabet has cut contractual ties with Appen , the artificial intelligence data firm that helped train Google's chatbot Bard, Google Search results and other AI products.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Pichai, Appen, Bard, Appen's, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Bard, didn't, Bard chatbot Organizations: Google, Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet Workers, Appen, Revenue, Australian Securities Exchange, CNBC, Adobe, Nvidia, U.S . National Labor Relations Board Locations: Washington ,, Australia

☆ Bill Gates shares his ‘big hope’ for COP28 as world leaders gather for climate talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Speaking as world leaders convened in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on the second day of the COP28 summit, Gates said he believed there were many encouraging climate solutions but that these projects required the necessary support from policymakers and business leaders. "And that requires government policies, it requires the big corporations to come in and so all these different communities that have to come together, they are represented here." COP28 is the United Nations' biggest and most important annual climate conference. The two-week long summit got underway on Thursday, with more than 160 world leaders expected to attend — alongside an estimated 70,000 delegates. "And so, facilitating the speed of innovation and the speed of the scale up, that's my big hope for COP28."

Persons: Bill Gates, Gates, CNBC's Tania Bryer Organizations: UNITED, EMIRATES, Microsoft, United Arab Emirates, United Nations Locations: Dubai, United

☆ Some Microsoft employees fume over the company's open offer to hire hundreds of OpenAI staff
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Ashley Stewart | Julie Bort | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

When Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott said the company would hire hundreds of OpenAI employees and match their current compensation, some Microsoft workers were furious. For existing Microsoft workers, 2023 was a year in which they feared for their jobs and their pay. In an open letter, nearly all of OpenAI's workforce said "Microsoft has assured us that there are positions for all OpenAI employees." Scott confirmed the offer in a post on X, writing that all OpenAI employees had "a role at Microsoft" and that the software giant would match their OpenAI compensation. However, the damage to morale among some Microsoft employees has already been done.

Persons: Kevin Scott, Satya Nadella, OpenAI, Sam Altman, Nadella, he'd, Altman, Greg Brockman, Scott Organizations: Microsoft, Business

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