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☆ 4 tech giants have cemented their AI dominance. But there's even more room for growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Nearly all tech companies will integrate generative AI by the end of 2024. Respondents said they expected to use generative AI for customer support, content generation and productivity. Google Cloud Google Cloud was the third most likely cloud provider in Oppenheimer's survey to gain future AI spending share. Salesforce and AI Oppenheimer analysts said they see "durable tailwinds for customer support, content generation and code generation, which are considered priority use cases for Generative AI." We agree with this call and are in the camp that Salesforce's generative AI tools should help reaccelerate sales growth all while balancing increasing margins.

Persons: Oppenheimer's, Oppenheimer, Piper Sandler, Copilot, Piper, we've, Salesforce, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Dado Ruvic Organizations: Microsoft, Web Services, Google, Meta, AI, Adobe, CNBC Locations: OpenAI, Jasper

☆ It's official: 2023 is the year of Microsoft's glow-up
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-14 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Its big bet on AI appears to be paying off while blockbuster deals are getting greenlit. 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 . AdvertisementAdvertisementIt's a history that is firmly behind the company: 2023 looks set to be the year Microsoft completes its glow-up. But by and large, 2023 has been a remarkable year for Microsoft.

Persons: —, Steve Ballmer, Bill Gates, Satya Nadella, Sam Altman, Nadella, Bing Organizations: Microsoft, Service, Apple, Google, The, Activision Blizzard, Markets Authority, Sky News, IRS, Treasury Locations: Ballmer

☆ Gen Z doesn't know how to write emails. AI is coming to Outlook, so it might help.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A new Microsoft AI tool could make up for the soft skills that some managers say Gen Z lacks . Microsoft 365 Copilot will us AI to help users write better emails, the company says. AdvertisementAdvertisementCompanies that use Microsoft Outlook for correspondence are getting an AI-powered tool that will help draft emails beginning next month. Some managers have complained about their supposedly lazy Gen Z workers, who they need to be supervised all day to ensure they're keeping up with their tasks. ResumeBuilder.com surveyed more than 1,300 US managers in April, and most of them said that Gen Z is the "most challenging generation" to work with.

Persons: —, Copilot, ResumeBuilder.com, Cherie Gartner, there's, It's Organizations: Microsoft, Service, KPMG, Visa, General Motors, Lumen Technologies, CNN

☆ How finally closing its Activision purchase will diversify Microsoft's revenue streams
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Microsoft (MSFT) closed its landmark acquisition of Activision Blizzard (ATVI), according to a company regulatory filing Friday, furthering the Big Tech name's video game ambitions. However, this biggest video game deal ever was completed despite the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) ongoing fight to block it. Activision reported $7.5 billion in revenue for the 2022 fiscal year, in comparison to Microsoft's $212 billion in sales for the same period. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Microsoft submitted a new proposal to U.K. regulators for the takeover of American game publisher Activision Blizzard after its initial proposal was rejected.

Persons: Victoria Graham, Jim Cramer, Jim, Tony Hawk, Jim Cramer's Organizations: Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, Big Tech, Activision, pushback, Markets, CMA, Ubisoft, Federal Trade Commission's, CNBC, FTC, Xbox, Nurphoto, Getty Locations: U.S, OpenAI

☆ Microsoft to widely offer an AI feature into outlook that can write emails for you
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Artificial intelligence could soon be writing more company emails in Microsoft Outlook, as the company expands its rollout of AI tools for corporate users. The Microsoft 365 Copilot tool – “your everyday AI companion,” as the company bills it – will help users write their emails to “keep your sentences concise and error-free.” The tool also summarizes long email threads to quickly draft suggested replies. Users with Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscriptions will get more advanced AI help through Microsoft Editor, an intelligent writing assistant. The initial wave of attention on the tool helped renew an arms race among tech companies to develop and deploy similar AI tools in their products. Microsoft rival Google, for example, has also brought AI to its productivity tools, including Gmail, Sheets and Docs.

Persons: OpenAI Organizations: New, New York CNN, Microsoft, Visa, General Motors, KPMG, Lumen Technologies, Excel, Google, Gmail Locations: New York

☆ Stocks like Microsoft have more room to run, as analysts name their top fourth-quarter picks
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-07 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Wall Street analysts have issued their lists of top stocks for the fourth quarter, and a slate of familiar names made the cut. These companies are firing on all cylinders and have more room to run, they said. They include Nvidia , Microsoft, Boeing and T-Mobile. Microsoft Buy any dip in the tech giant's shares, Wells Fargo said earlier this week. In addition, Boeing is in a "premier position" with its jumbo jet manufacturing as the company maintains a large market share, the firm said.

Persons: Wells Fargo, Michael Turrin, ROY, Wells, Mobile Goldman Sachs, Brett Feldman, Feldman, Goldman, Ronald Epstein, AeroSystems, Epstein, Grace, Hopper, C27E, …, Goldman Sachs Organizations: CNBC, Nvidia, Microsoft, Boeing, Mobile, Sprint, Boeing Global, Bank of America, Mizuho, ~$

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — It’s been 15 years since the world’s elite gas balloon pilots have gathered in the United States for a race with roots that stretch back more than a century. Their ballooning résumé includes four wins in the America's Challenge long-distance gas balloon race, and third- and fourth-place finishes in previous Gordon Bennett competitions. Unlike the colorful hot air balloons that ascend en masse during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta by using heated ambient air, gas balloons have an envelope filled with a gas lighter than air — usually hydrogen. He recalled the Gordon Bennett competition that occurred after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. The gas balloons were the only things in the sky as planes were still grounded.

Persons: — It’s, Gordon Bennett, They're, Willi Eimers, Benjamin, Albuquerque balloonists Barbara Fricke, Peter Cuneo, Fricke, Cuneo, “ You've, ” Fricke, Mark Sullivan, Cheri White, Sullivan, White, Jacques Soukup, ” Sullivan, “, We’re, let’s, ” Organizations: U.S, FAI, Pilots Locations: ALBUQUERQUE, N.M, United States, New Mexico, Albuquerque, U.S, Canada, Belgium, West Texas, Belarus

☆ Big Tech is promising AI assistants straight out of 'Iron Man' in an attempt to tackle our endless lists of 'crapmin'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Microsoft, Meta, and more are touting AI assistants that are far more advanced than Siri and Alexa. These AI assistants have the potential to deal with tedious digital tasks, or "crapmin." From Microsoft to Meta, tech companies leading the charge in AI are starting to make clear what the future of AI looks like to them. Meta's AI assistant "surfaces options directly in the chat, so you can decide as a group which location to explore." Letting an AI assistant take care of all aspects of our "crapmin" will require a lot of confidence in its capabilities.

Persons: Siri, Alexa, Tony Stark's Jarvis, —, Man's, AI's Jarvis, Iron, Satya Nadella, Mark Zuckerberg, resuscitating, Zuckerberg, –, Jarvis, they've, Copilot, Yusuf Mehdi, Bing, Mehdi Organizations: Microsoft, Meta, Service, Man's Stark Industries, Meta's Connect, Bing Locations: California

☆ BMO expects more market volatility. These dividend payers can cushion the ride
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Investors looking for safety amid the market turbulence can find it in certain dividend stocks, according to BMO Capital Markets. "One of the benefits of a dividend-focused investment strategy, such as our Dividend MFR [Dividend Multi-Factor Rank] model, is its ability to combat high levels of volatility and protect against market losses," Brian Belski, chief investment strategist at BMO, wrote in a note last week. Pioneer Natural Resources has a whopping 7.6% dividend yield. Meanwhile, Eli Lilly has a 0.9% dividend yield. Lastly, tech giant Microsoft made the cut with its 0.9% dividend yield.

Persons: Brian Belski, Belski, Howard Schultz, Eli Lilly, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: BMO Capital Markets, BMO, Treasury, Natural Resources, West Texas, Starbucks, Microsoft Locations: ChatGPT

☆ Microsoft's AI 'Copilot' could be a breakthrough for business productivity
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailMicrosoft's AI 'Copilot' could be a breakthrough for business productivityCNBC's Steve Kovach joins 'The Exchange' to discuss Microsoft's upcoming launch of an AI assistant for apps like Teams, Outlook, and Word, and Microsoft's effort to entice enterprises to invest in Copilot.

Persons: Steve Kovach Locations: Copilot

☆ Microsoft Copilot launches November 1: Can it live up to the A.I. hype?
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Steve Kovach | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailMicrosoft Copilot launches November 1: Can it live up to the A.I. CNBC's Steve Kovach joins 'Squawk Box' to report on Microsoft's new A.I.

Persons: Steve Kovach Organizations: Microsoft Copilot

In our view, the companies in the regulators' sights — Alphabet 's (GOOGL) Google, Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) — are not engaged in anti-competitive behavior. In January, the DOJ filed a second, separate antitrust lawsuit against Alphabet in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. MSFT YTD mountain Microsoft YTD U.K. regulators have also hounded the Big Tech name, aiming to block Microsoft's acquisition of Activision over cloud gaming concerns. In a showdown years in the making, the FTC last month filed a highly-anticipated antitrust lawsuit against e-commerce giant Amazon. The logos of Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft displayed on a mobile phone and a laptop screen.

Persons: Satya Nadella, —, Nadella, Bing, Jim Cramer, Activision Blizzard, ChatGPT, Morgan Stanley, Joe Biden, Lina Khan, Khan, Jim, Jim Cramer's, Justin Tallis Organizations: Big Tech, Google, Microsoft, Washington D.C, Justice, District of Columbia, DOJ, Eastern, of, Activision, Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Ubisoft, U.K, Markets Authority, Yale Law, Amazon, CNBC, Apple, Facebook, Getty Locations: Washington, U.S, of Virginia, Virginia, Amazon

☆ Top Wall Street analysts pick these five stocks for compelling returns
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-01 | by ( Tipranks.Com Staff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

However, the current scenario also offers an opportunity to pick stocks that could generate attractive returns despite short-term pressures. To that end, here are five stocks favored by Wall Street's top analysts, according to TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based on their past performance. The analyst said the results reinforce his view of Adobe as a winner in an emerging generative artificial intelligence world. "This strategy should enable creatives to better appreciate the productivity benefits of generative AI more quickly, and make Firefly-powered generative AI offerings a critical part of their workflows, creating competitive differentiation as well as increasing the overall value of Creative Cloud," said Zelnick. Rangan holds the 509th position among more than 8,500 analysts on TipRanks.

Persons: Shantanu Narayen, Mark Neuling, Wall, Brad Zelnick, Zelnick, TipRanks, Baird, Colin Sebastian, Sebastian, Bing, Goldman Sachs, Kash Rangan, Rangan Organizations: Adobe, CNBC, Adobe Software, Deutsche Bank, Microsoft Tech, Microsoft, Windows, Bing, TipRanks, FedEx

☆ Sam Altman says AI systems will automate some tasks but also lead to 'new and much better jobs'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-30 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Sam Altman said in a post on X that the strength of AI systems is automating tasks, not jobs. Altman also admitted, however, that AI might be able to do some of today's jobs in the future. AdvertisementAdvertisementAs rapid advances in AI reshape the way we work, many workers are fretting about whether their jobs might be replaced. "Important point here: These systems are much better at doing tasks than jobs," he wrote in a post on X on Friday. Altman added that he's not "trying to hide the ball" on the fact that AI systems will be able to perform "today's jobs" in the long run.

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, —, Ryan Petersen, Petersen, Flexport, Goldman Sachs, OpenAI Organizations: Service, McKinsey

☆ SAP CEO on new generative AI copilot and outlook for cloud demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailSAP CEO on new generative AI copilot and outlook for cloud demandChristian Klein, SAP CEO, discusses the company's new generative AI copilot, Joule, and how he's investing into the future of artificial intelligence.

Persons: Christian Klein Organizations: SAP, Joule

☆ Microsoft technology chief says supply of Nvidia's AI chips is improving
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"Demand was far exceeding the supply of GPU capacity that the whole ecosystem could produce," Scott told the Verge's Nilay Patel. Microsoft, like Google and other tech companies, has been quickly adding generative AI to its own products and selling the technology's capabilities to clients. Training and deploying the underlying AI models has mainly relied on Nvidia's GPUs, creating scarcity of supply. Nvidia expects to increase supply each quarter through next year, finance chief Colette Kress told analysts on last month's earnings call. Traffic to ChatGPT has declined month over month for three consecutive months, Similarweb said in a blog post.

Persons: Nilay Patel, Kevin Scott, Scott, OpenAi, we've, Patel, that's, Colette Kress, Similarweb, I'm, Doug Clinton Organizations: The Ritz, Carlton Laguna, Microsoft, Nvidia, Training, Qualcomm, PCs Locations: Dana Point , California, OpenAI

☆ Google is quietly handing out early demos of its GPT-4 rival called Gemini. Here's what we know so far about the upcoming AI model.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Google is preparing to launch its answer to rival OpenAI's GPT-4: Gemini. Gemini is a next-gen, multimodal AI model due for release later this year. The tech is a next-gen, multimodal AI model being worked on by a team of researchers pulled from Google's now-merged AI divisions DeepMind and Google Brain. Gemini is multimodalGoogle's Gemini is a multimodal AI, meaning it can process more than one type of data. Researchers behind the SemiAnalysis blog have also predicted that Google's Gemini would likely outperform GPT-4 because of Google's access to top-flight chips.

Persons: OpenAI's GPT, OpenAI's, Sam Altman, AlphaGo Gemini, Google's DeepMind, AlphaGo, Lee Sedol, ChatGPT, Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, Bard Organizations: Google, Service, OpenAI, AlphaGo, Wired Locations: Wall, Silicon, Google's

☆ Microsoft's Copilot will be the biggest revenue driver for the company: Jefferies
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailMicrosoft's Copilot will be the biggest revenue driver for the company: JefferiesBrent Thill of Jefferies calls Copilot one of Microsoft's "most exciting product launches" and says that the company, alongside Adobe, is ahead of the pack in monetizing AI.

Persons: Jefferies Brent Thill, Jefferies, Copilot Organizations: Adobe

The company introduced the Surface Laptop Studio 2 and the Surface Laptop Go 3, and unveiled enterprise availability for Microsoft 365 Copilot, its supplemental AI tool for core productivity apps such as Word and Excel. The Surface Laptop Studio 2 starts at $1,999, while the Surface Laptop Go 3 starts at $799. Surface Laptop Studio 2Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio Courtesy: MicrosoftThe Surface Laptop Studio 2 has a similar look and feel to the original model that launched in 2021. Surface Laptop Go 3Microsoft Surface Laptop Go Courtesy: MicrosoftThe Surface Laptop Go 3 is the latest update to Microsoft's entry-level laptop. The laptop starts at $799, an increase from the $599 starting price of the Surface Laptop Go 2.

Persons: Satya Nadella, Panos Panay, Aaron Woodman, Copilot, Woodman, you'll, It's, Sainsbury, Intel Iris, Brett Ostrum, Microsoft's, Ostrum, it's, Frank Buchholz Organizations: Microsoft Microsoft, Microsoft, Google, Microsoft's, Monday Microsoft, Bing, Windows, Carter, Intel, Nvidia, Laptop, CNBC Locations: New York, Panay

☆ Microsoft's Yusuf Mehdi discusses the tech giant's AI ambitions with Copilot
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailMicrosoft's Yusuf Mehdi discusses the tech giant's AI ambitions with CopilotYusuf Mehdi, chief of Windows and surface business, along with CNBC's Steve Kovach, joins 'The Exchange' to discuss Microsoft CoPilot's AI ambitions, and meeting the demand to offer AI for enterprises.

Persons: Microsoft's Yusuf Mehdi, Copilot Yusuf Mehdi, Steve Kovach Organizations: Windows, Microsoft

☆ Microsoft announces unified AI assistant, new Surface devices
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Yuvraj Malik | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Rami Amichay Acquire Licensing RightsSept 21 (Reuters) - Microsoft (MSFT.O) on Thursday announced a "unified" artificial intelligence (AI) for its Windows 11 platform and four new Surface devices, upping the appeal of its products spruced with the latest technology. The new AI tool, called Copilot, will work across the company's web and productivity applications Bing, Edge browser, and Microsoft 365 software suite. The updated AI software will roll out with the latest changes to Windows 11 on Sept. 26. It will be available in Microsoft 365 Copilot on Nov. 1, when the highly anticipated enterprise AI tool will be generally available for purchase. Microsoft on Thursday announced three laptops - Surface Laptop Go 3, Surface Laptop Studio 2 and Surface Go 4 For Business - and Surface Hub 3, the newer version of its interactive whiteboard.

Persons: Rami Amichay, Bing, OpenAI's, Panos, Yusuf Mehdi, Yuvraj Malik, Jeffrey Dastin, Maju Samuel Organizations: Microsoft, REUTERS, Big Tech, Apple, GenAI, Thomson Locations: Herzliya, Tel Aviv, Israel, Redmond , Washington, Panos Panay, Bengaluru, San Francisco

☆ Microsoft to sell AI assistant software to biggest clients starting Nov. 1
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft said Thursday that starting Nov. 1, large companies will be able to buy Microsoft 365 Copilot, its artificial intelligence supplement to core productivity apps such as Word and Excel. Microsoft 365 Copilot is one result of the company's close collaboration with San Francisco startup OpenAI, which became a household name after ChatGPT, OpenAI's chatbot, went viral last year. In March, Microsoft first revealed plans for Microsoft 365 Copilot. Microsoft 365 Copilot tools are now in preview with small businesses, Colette Stallbaumer, a general manager, said at Thursday's event. Turning Microsoft 365 Copilot into a big business might take time.

Persons: OpenAI's chatbot, underpins, Satya Nadella, Copilot, Colette Stallbaumer, Amy Hood, Hood, McNamee Organizations: Microsoft, San, Edge, Google Locations: San Francisco, New York, Bing

The capability, which Intel showed off during a software developer conference held in Silicon Valley, could let businesses and consumers test ChatGPT-style technologies without sending sensitive data off their own computer. It is made possible by new AI data-crunching features built into Intel's forthcoming "Meteor Lake" laptop chip and from new software tools the company is releasing. Intel said on Tuesday that it was building a new supercomputer that would be used by Stability AI, a startup that makes image-generating software. China's Alibaba Group Holdings (9988.HK) is using its newest central processors to serve up chatbot technology, Intel said. If Intel Chief Gelsinger can make AI "so that anyone can use it, that creates a much bigger market for chips – the chips that he makes," Hutcheson said.

Persons: Arnd, Taylor Swift, Pat Gelsinger, Gelsinger, Sachin Katti, Dan Hutcheson, TechInsights, Hutcheson, Stephen Nellis, Max Cherney, Peter Henderson, Lincoln, Josie Kao Organizations: Intel Corporation, REUTERS, JOSE, Intel, ., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Nvidia, Stability, Alibaba, Holdings, Meta, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Davos, Switzerland, California, Silicon Valley, HK, San Francisco, San Jose , California

☆ Car buying was finally getting better. The auto workers' strike will make it bad for everyone again.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The United Auto Workers union is on strike, targeting a select few Detroit 3 car factories. After years of a pandemic-driven supply-and-demand car crunch that jacked up new and used vehicle prices and shrunk dealership supply, car buyers had just started to see a little respite. The used car market has been trickier to generalize, but even used vehicle listing prices finally dropped slightly in July. "Pricing may well go up just because of scarcity, and if that happens, then the consumer that potentially was buying a new car would move to the used car market," Russell Hensley, partner in McKinsey's global automotive and assembly practice, said. "Prices will likely go up in the used car market."

Persons: Pat Ryan, Kelley, Cadillac, Jeep Wrangler, Ryan, Russell Hensley Organizations: United Auto Workers, Detroit, UAW, Service, Ford, GM, GMC, Buick, Chrysler, Chevrolet, Cox Automotive, Honda, Toyota, Kia, Jeep Locations: Wall, Silicon, Detroit, Wayne , Michigan, Wentzville , Missouri, Toledo , Ohio

☆ Analysts left Microsoft's AI event feeling even more bullish about the stock
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Commentary and demonstrations from Microsoft 's recent AI-focused Envision event are giving Wall Street more reasons to get bullish on the technology giant. At the event held in New York on Wednesday, Microsoft highlighted generative artificial intelligence solutions and capabilities, including its Copilot subscription service. The company announced pricing earlier this year for the product, which adds AI capabilities to Microsoft's Office suite. Other Wall Street analysts also reiterated their buy ratings on shares, including Citi's Tyler Radke and Goldman Sachs analyst Kash Rangan. A growing backlog in AI product demand should convert to more paying users as enterprises hunt for "high-[return on investment], quick time-to-value solutions," he added.

Persons: OpenAI, Gregg Moskowitz, Citi's Tyler Radke, Goldman Sachs, Kash Rangan, Rangan, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Microsoft, Wall Locations: New York, ChatGPT

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