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☆ Elon Musk revives lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman in federal court
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-05 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | Arjun Kharpal Is A Senior Correspondent For Cnbc In London. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk has revived a lawsuit against Sam Altman in federal court, alleging that the Tesla boss was manipulated into co-founding OpenAI, according to a court filing published Monday. The claims in the new lawsuit are similar to another lawsuit filed by Musk against OpenAI and Altman in California this year, which the Tesla and SpaceX boss ultimately dropped. But as it turns out, this was all hot-air philanthropy—the hook for Altman’s long con,” the lawsuit claims. CNBC has reached out to Tesla, OpenAI and Microsoft for comment. “Over the course of the next few years and continuing to today, Microsoft methodically entrenched itself further into OpenAI,” the lawsuit alleges.

Persons: Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Tesla, “, ”, Altman, Greg Brockman, Musk, Brockman, ” “ Altman, Microsoft “, Satya Nadella Organizations: Microsoft, OpenAI, SpaceX, CNBC, Inc Locations: California, Northern California, OpenAI

☆ Elon Musk revives lawsuit against OpenAI, Sam Altman in federal court
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-05 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk has revived a lawsuit against Sam Altman in a federal court, alleging that the Tesla boss was manipulated into co-founding OpenAI, according to a court filing published on Monday. The claims in the new lawsuit are similar to another lawsuit filed by Musk against OpenAI and Altman in California this year, which the Tesla and SpaceX boss ultimately dropped. But as it turns out, this was all hot-air philanthropy—the hook for Altman's long con," the lawsuit claims. CNBC has reached out to Tesla, OpenAI and Microsoft for comment. "While Musk expressed a liking for Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella ... the values of the company and OpenAI, Inc. did not align," the lawsuit claims.

Persons: Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Tesla, Altman, Greg Brockman, Musk, Brockman, Satya Nadella, CNBC's Jordan Novet Organizations: Microsoft, OpenAI, SpaceX, CNBC, Inc Locations: Ankara, Turkiye, California, Northern California, OpenAI

☆ Ex-Google engineers who founded Character.AI rejoin company with new AI partnership
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-02 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"I am super excited to return to Google and work as part of the Google DeepMind team," Shazeer said in a statement on Friday. I am confident that the funds from the non-exclusive Google licensing agreement together with the incredible Character.AI team positions Character.AI for continued success in the future." The move also comes amid a competitive talent and AI landscape, leading companies to form partnerships against a tough regulatory landscape that has placed scrutiny on mergers and acquisitions. Britain's competition watchdog said earlier this week it is looking into Google's partnership with AI startup Anthropic, for example. In March, Microsoft hired Mustafa Suleyman, a co-founder of AI startup DeepMind that Google acquired in 2014, and much of its staff to lead AI initiatives.

Persons: Noam Shazeer, Daniel De Freitas, Character.AI, Freitas, Axios, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Shazeer, We're, Noam, Mustafa Suleyman, Suleyman, Satya Nadella Organizations: Google, Character.AI, CNBC, Microsoft Locations: Character.AI

☆ The GenAI jitters: Is there enough demand for $1 trillion in AI spending?
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-02 | by ( Alistair Barr | Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

AdvertisementBig tech companies are forecast to spend $1 trillion on data centers, real estate, chips and other gear to build AI models, tools and products. AdvertisementSome big tech companies have already whittled away a large chunk of their cash reserves chasing this AI trend. For more than a year, the assumption has been that generative AI will stoke a massive wave of new demand. What if that demand turns out to be weaker than expected? A major piece of evidence he shared was about demand for Microsoft's 365 Copilot service.

Persons: —, Ashley Stewart, I've, Ashley, Keith Weiss, Morgan Stanley, Weiss, Andy Jassy, Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, BI's Ashley Stewart, Nadella Organizations: Service, Business, pharma, Big, Microsoft, stoke, Amazon, Google, CIO

☆ Microsoft's cloud is 'no-brainer' for some AI startups, helping Azure gain ground on AWS
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-02 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

However, after EzDubs went through the Y Combinator startup program last year, the company made a quick pivot, adding Microsoft's cloud into the mix. That's because EzDubs' founders learned of a partnership that enabled Y Combinator companies to receive $350,000 worth of credits on Microsoft Azure. The current offer includes $350,000 in AWS credits, plus $300,000 reserved for tapping the custom silicon, the spokesperson said. A spokesperson later said 58% of Y Combinator startups had taken up Microsoft's credit offer, a figure that doesn't reflect actual Azure usage. "Leading AI startups use OpenAI to power their AI solutions, therefore, making them Azure customers as well."

Persons: Amrutavarsh Kinagi, Kareem Nassar, Padmanabhan Krishnamurthy, EzDubs, Krishnamurthy, Y, Annie Pearl, it's, Satya Nadella, Sam Altman, Hayden, CNBC InKeep, OpenAI, Nick Gomez, InKeep's, InKeep, Gomez, CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin, Prady Modukuru, Modukuru, Anthropic, Daksh Gupta, Gupta, Nassar Organizations: Google, Microsoft, CNBC, Amazon, Services, Alchemist, AWS, Hayden Field, Sync Labs, Sync, OpenAI Locations: Palo Alto , California, OpenAI's, San Francisco

Jensen Huang, co-founder and chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp., displays the new Blackwell GPU chip during the Nvidia GPU Technology Conference on March 18, 2024. Nvidia shares popped more than 11% Wednesday after remarks from top customer Microsoft and rival chipmaker AMD signaled there wouldn't be a slowdown in the multibillion-dollar buildout of AI servers based around GPUs. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and finance chief Amy Hood said Tuesday the company plans to spend even more on Nvidia-based infrastructure next year. Microsoft spent $19 billion on capital expenditures during the fiscal fourth quarter, with about 60% on hardware. Nvidia has been the primary beneficiary of the AI boom.

Persons: Jensen Huang, Satya Nadella, Amy Hood, Microsoft's capex, Karl Keirstead, Morgan Stanley, Joseph Moore, Moore, Blackwell, Blackwell ramping Organizations: Nvidia Corp, Blackwell, Nvidia, Technology, Microsoft, AMD, UBS

☆ Microsoft says OpenAI is now a competitor in AI and search
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-31 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, right, greets OpenAI CEO Sam Altman during the OpenAI DevDay event in San Francisco on Nov. 6, 2023. In the filing, Microsoft identified OpenAI, the creator of the ChatGPT chatbot, as a competitor in AI offerings and in search and news advertising. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reportedly wasn't briefed before OpenAI's board pushed out CEO Sam Altman in November. Suleyman, who had co-founded and led startup Inflection AI, was named CEO of a new unit called Microsoft AI, and several Inflection employees joined him. WATCH: OpenAI announces a search engine called SearchGPT

Persons: Satya Nadella, Sam Altman, OpenAI, It's, it's, wasn't, Altman, Nadella, Mustafa Suleyman, Suleyman, Sam Organizations: Microsoft, Apple, Google, Meta, OpenAI, Bing, CNBC, New York Times Locations: San Francisco, OpenAI

☆ How Satya Nadella created a 'learn-it-all' culture at Microsoft to help it become a $3 trillion powerhouse
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-31 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewWhen Satya Nadella took over as CEO of Microsoft in 2014, he was on a mission to transform the company's culture. A decade later, it's clear that Nadella followed his own counsel as he seeks to establish Microsoft as a dominant force in AI. So, by 2016, Microsoft ditched its mobile business and sold the Nokia phone line to follow Nadella's new vision for the company. This cemented Nadella's vision to build up its open-source software offering, solidifying Nadella's vision to boost Microsoft's open-source software offerings. CFO Amy Hood said on Tuesday that Microsoft's AI bets will be monetized "over 15 years and beyond."

Persons: —, Satya Nadella, Nadella, Steve Ballmer, Ballmer, Kevin Scott, Bill Gates, OpenAI, Bing, Nadella isn't, Mustafa Suleyman, Suleyman, Carol Dweck's, Amy Hood Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Business, Nokia, Work Conference Locations: reenergize, OpenAI, ChatGPT

☆ Microsoft has investors really freaking out about Big Tech's AI spending
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-30 | by ( Ana Altchek | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Shares fell in post-market trading after Microsoft released its fourth-quarter earnings report. Its Azure cloud unit's revenue grew 29%, slightly slower than analysts had expected. 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 . Microsoft released its Q4 earnings Tuesday afternoon, and the company grew its Azure cloud unit's revenue by 29%.

Persons: Satya Nadella, — Organizations: Microsoft, Service, Business

☆ We're upgrading Microsoft after earnings. The stock has pulled back enough lately
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-30 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

Microsoft delivered an overall strong quarter after Tuesday's market close, but a miss on Azure revenue growth put shares under pressure in extended-hours trading. Office Consumer Products and Cloud Services revenue grew 3% as Microsoft 365 Consumer subscriptions grew 10% to 82.5 million. Windows Commercial Products and Cloud Services revenue increased 11%, driven by demand for Microsoft 365. Despite the solid fiscal Q1 outlook for Intelligent Cloud revenue, management guided Azure's constant currency revenue growth to 28% to 29%. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks during the Microsoft Build conference at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington, on May 21, 2024.

Persons: We're, Satya Nadella, Nadella, Amy Hood, Hood, That's, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Jason Redmond Organizations: Microsoft, Revenue, Nvidia, Broadcom, Devices, AMD, Investors, Products, Cloud Services, Consumer Products, Dynamics Products, Enterprise Mobility, Activision, Windows, —, Xbox, Management, CNBC, AFP, Getty Locations: OpenAI, pare, Redmond , Washington

☆ Microsoft tells employees it will hand out one-time cash awards of up to 25% of annual bonus
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-30 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Microsoft on Tuesday said it will pay a one-time performance-based cash award of up to 25% of annual bonus to rank-and-file employees. Junior-level employees can obtain an award amounting to as much as 25% of their bonus, while senior directors can get up to 10%. Hogan said in the memo that Microsoft's leaders want to show recognition to workers for a good fiscal year. Microsoft reported fourth-quarter results after the close of trading on Tuesday, and said revenue increased 15% from a year earlier. Microsoft shares are up 26% in the past year as of Tuesday's close, outperforming the Nasdaq, which has gained 20%.

Persons: Kathleen Hogan, Microsoft's, Hogan, Satya Nadella Organizations: Microsoft, Junior, Nasdaq, Federal Reserve

☆ Microsoft shares dip as cloud miss overshadows better-than-expected revenue and earnings
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-30 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Microsoft shares dipped on Wednesday as investors looked past better-than-expected earnings and revenue and focused instead on disappointing cloud results. But executives provided a dose of optimism when they predicted a cloud growth speed-up in the first half of 2025. Of the 29% growth for Azure and other cloud services, 8 percentage points came from AI services, Microsoft said. But demand for Azure AI services remained higher than available capacity, said Amy Hood, Microsoft's finance chief. She said Azure growth in June was slightly lower than expected across some parts of Europe.

Persons: Satya Nadella, LSEG, StreetAccount, Nadella, Amy Hood, Hood Organizations: Microsoft, Seattle Convention Center, StreetAccount, CNBC, Google, Amazon Web Services Locations: Seattle , Washington, Europe

☆ Big Tech is preparing to report its earnings. The results could make or break the AI rally.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-29 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewFor a while now, AI stocks have seemingly had the ability to defy gravity. This week, tech companies central to the generative AI boom, including Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Meta, report earnings at a time when the market rally they've helped drive teeters on the brink of a correction. If its Big Tech peers also struggle to tell investors that AI isn't just sucking up cash, we might see the AI rally lose some steam. AI hype faces a major testThe rationale behind why AI stocks have been able to defy gravity is pretty simple. Since March, gains in the S&P 500 have been driven by chip firms like Nvidia and the so-called "Fab Five" AI Big Tech stocks, including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Meta.

Persons: —, they've, robotaxis, Sundar Pichai, Jensen Huang, Tim Cook, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Satya Nadella, OpenAI, Dan Ives Organizations: Service, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Nasdaq, Tesla, Google, Business, Big Tech, Apple Intelligence, Nvidia Locations: Silicon

☆ Multi-agent systems are the next big thing in AI. Here's why VCs at NEA, Mayfield Fund, and Foundation Capital are excited.
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-29 | by ( Sri Muppidi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Startups are building AI agents that collaborate to fill out forms, dial customer service reps, and order food delivery. These "multi-agent systems" are the next hot thing, according to investors from NEA, Mayfield Fund, and Foundation Capital. Multi-agent systems are distributed systems of multiple specialized AI agents that work together toward a collective goal. AdvertisementIn contrast, multi-agent systems are built on top of LLMs and are designed to execute a task from start to finish. AdvertisementMayfield Fund's Navin Chaddha is optimistic — AI agents will serve as teammates to workers.

Persons: —, Spike Jonze's, that's, OpenAI's, NEA's Madison Faulkner, Devin, Warren Hui, Nitta, Satya Nitta, Ashpreet Bedi, Faulkner, Mayfield Fund's Navin Chaddha, …, It's Organizations: Service, NEA, Mayfield Fund, Foundation Capital, Business, Soul Ventures, Nvidia Locations: Italy, PitchBook, Japan

☆ Buy top tech stocks like Apple ahead of their results before it's too late, Bank of America says
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-27 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The investment bank says stocks like Apple are table-pounding buys ahead of quarterly results this week. CNBC Pro combed through Bank of America research to find buy-rated tech stocks with more room to run. Apple Bank of America recently raised its price target on the iPhone maker to $256 from $230. Shopify Time to buy shares of the Canadian provider of websites for businesses, according to Bank of America. Analyst Brad Sills recently upgraded Shopify to buy from neutral as a "more balanced growth & margin profile" take hold.

Persons: Wamsi Mohan, Apple, Mohan, GenAI, Brad Sills, Sills, Shopify, Sachin Salgaonkar, Mark Murphy, Satya Kumar, Samir Organizations: Bank of America, CNBC, Microsoft, Apple, Micron Technology, Sea, Apple Bank of America, Apple Vision, Micron Locations: Bank, Shopify, U.S, Singapore, Southeast Asia, Asia, Brazil, Boston, New York

☆ OpenAI's new SearchGPT prototype is a declaration of war against Google
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-25 | by ( Jyoti Mann | Ana Altchek | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The AI company announced "SearchGPT" on Thursday, an early version of a search product that shows the company is one step closer to launching its own search engine. In a blog post, OpenAI said it's "testing SearchGPT, a temporary prototype of new AI search features that give you fast and timely answers with clear and relevant sources." A screenshot of search results from OpenAI's new SearchGPT prototype, which is in the testing phase. OpenAIOpenAI has Google in its crosshairsWith SearchGPT, OpenAI is clearly positioning itself against Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE) and AI startup Perplexity's search feature. AdvertisementOpenAI's announcement comes after The Information in February that the company had been quietly developing its own web search product.

Persons: —, OpenAI, Sam Altman, OpenAI OpenAI, Google's SGE, Microsoft's Bing, Bing, Satya Nadella, OpenAI didn't Organizations: Service, Business, Google, Microsoft, Department of Justice, DOJ Locations: boone north carolina, SearchGPT

☆ Recovering from the global tech outage could be a long, arduous process
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-19 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The CrowdStrike software at fault operates at what’s called the kernel level of a computer, a much deeper level than what more ordinary applications such as browsers or video games do. For businesses with hundreds or thousands of laptops, desktops and servers running CrowdStrike’s security software, an individual human may have to perform that process over and over and over again. Because CrowdStrike’s security software is running on countless individual computers all around the globe, the update that got pushed to those devices caused them all to shut down, virtually simultaneously. The CrowdStrike bug may have initially been conflated with the Microsoft issue because CrowdStrike’s error affected only Windows machines. As of Friday morning, Microsoft said the issue with Microsoft 365 had been resolved and that the situation was improving.

Persons: ”, Troy Hunt, CrowdStrike, Kevin Beaumont, rebooting, Ira Bailey, Kenn White, ” White, “ It’s, Andrew Peck, ” Peck, Satya Nadella, Beaumont, ” Beaumont, Olesya Dmitracova Organizations: CNN, Microsoft, Machine, ” Microsoft, Fortune, IT, Loughborough University Locations: what’s, America

For Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, being almost the only game in town for AI chips isn't enough. AdvertisementThe company also runs Nvidia Inception, an incubator and venture network that counts more than 20,000 early-stage companies among its membership. "I think it's crazy," said another founder whose company received investment from NVentures, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Any company trying to do anything major in AI has spent the past two years buying them by the truckload. AdvertisementHe says he's received personal calls from Huang in which the Nvidia CEO weighs in on company decisions or expresses disapproval of his public statements.

Persons: Jensen Huang, Chris Brown, Brown, Huang, Vishal Bhagwati, Sid Siddeek, Jensen, Umesh, Padval, Uber, Nvidia's, Lisa Su, he's, there's Organizations: Service, Nvidia, Business, Corporate, Cohere's, Google, AMD Locations: Silicon Valley, New York, NVentures, OpenAI

☆ Big Tech CEOs, billionaires, and business leaders react to Trump rally shooting
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-14 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewProminent tech CEOs and billionaires condemned the shooting at a Trump rally on Saturday, with some voicing their support for former President Donald Trump. "I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery," Musk wrote on X. Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said in a statement posted on X that he was "thankful President Trump wasn't seriously injured." "A full and speedy recovery to President Trump. There is no room in our country for political violence," he wrote.

Persons: —, Donald Trump, Biden, Mark Cuban, Joe Biden, Tesla, Elon Musk, Trump, Musk, David Sacks, Shaun Maguire, Sacks, Marc Andreessen, Andreessen Horowitz, Tim Cook, Trump's, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Bezos, Satya Nadella, Brian Chesky, Trump wasn't, Marc Benioff, hasn't Organizations: Service, Trump, Business, Secret Service, Bloomberg, PAC, Biden Administration, Big Tech, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft Locations: Butler , Pennsylvania, Cuban, America

☆ How Microsoft’s Satya Nadella Became Tech’s Steely Eyed A.I. Gambler
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-14 | by ( Karen Weise | Cade Metz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Earlier this year, Satya Nadella hammered out a deal that surprised everyone outside his inner circle at Microsoft. Mr. Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive, had his eyes on a Silicon Valley start-up called Inflection AI. The company’s chief executive, Mustafa Suleyman, was one of the founders of the pioneering artificial intelligence company DeepMind. He had raised more than $1.5 billion in funding and hired top researchers for his new company, but he had a not-so-great reputation as a boss. Microsoft still shelled out more than $650 million to license Inflection’s technology, hired most of its staff and put Mr. Suleyman in charge of a more than $12 billion chunk of Microsoft’s business.

Persons: Satya Nadella, Nadella, Mustafa Suleyman, Suleyman Organizations: Microsoft

☆ Microsoft's decision to give up OpenAI board observer seat doesn't quell key concerns
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-11 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (R) speaks as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (L) looks on during the OpenAI DevDay event in San Francisco on Nov. 6, 2023. Microsoft has given up its observer seat on OpenAI's board. Apple , which was reportedly expected to take a similar observer position, will no longer pursue one, according to the Financial Times. "The timing of this move matters," Kak wrote in a message to CNBC. Kak told CNBC that regulators' pursuits are helping to get answers and deliver transparency.

Persons: Satya Nadella, Sam Altman, aren't, Amba Kak, Kak, Lina Khan Organizations: Microsoft, Apple, Financial Times, CNBC, Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Justice Department, Nvidia Locations: San Francisco

☆ 3 ways artificial intelligence could drive Microsoft stock past its record highs in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-05 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Investors have been drawn to Microsoft for its early leadership in the fast-growing artificial intelligence space. Year-to-date Microsoft stock is up roughly 24%, compared to the S & P 500's 15% advance. Excitement for Microsoft as an AI play, along with demand for its cloud computing business, show no signs of slowing. Copilot subscriptions Finally, the company can generate a nice recurring revenue stream from Microsoft 365′s Copilot AI add-on. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks during the Microsoft Build conference at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington, on May 21, 2024.

Persons: Jim Cramer, Copilot, Satya Nadella, Piper Sandler, Jim Cramer's, Jim, Jason Redmond Organizations: Microsoft, Management, Revenue, . Enterprise, Wall Street, CNBC, AFP, Getty Locations: OpenAI, Microsoft's, Redmond , Washington

☆ Apple and Microsoft seem to be playing very different games with their OpenAI deals
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-04 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In the 1990s, Apple watched as Bill Gates took Windows global, giving Microsoft absolute dominance over the nascent PC market. Apple's OpenAI dealWhen Apple revealed a partnership with OpenAI at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, questions swirled about the terms of the long-rumored tie-up. AdvertisementApple's new suite of AI features revealed at WWDC, dubbed Apple Intelligence, hardly relies on OpenAI's technology. ChatGPT is more of an add-on that Apple users can choose to give, or refuse, permission to respond to queries. The success of Apple's OpenAI tie-up could come down to how many people are willing to buy new iPhones.

Persons: —, Apple, Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, Steve Jobs, Gates, Phil Schiller, Sam Altman's, Apple's, Apple isn't, OpenAI, Satya Nadella, Nadella, Yann LeCun, it's Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Business, Bloomberg, Apple, Big Tech, OpenAI, Worldwide Developers, Google . Apple Intelligence, Google, Apple Intelligence Locations: OpenAI

☆ Microsoft reaches settlement in California over claims it punished employees for taking protected time off
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-03 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Microsoft is paying $14.4 million to settle a case in California over allegations that the company retaliated against employees who had taken legally protected time off. Within core Microsoft, women represented 31.2% of the workforce in 2023, up from 27.6% in 2019, according to the company's latest diversity report. Employees have reported feeling worried about retaliation after asking for protected leave, according to the California complaint. As part of the settlement, Microsoft will provide training to direct and second-level managers of staff members in California and to human-resources employees who deal with their bonuses and merit increases. Managers will also be instructed not to consider time off for protected leave when making "impact" decisions.

Persons: Microsoft's, Microsoft didn't, Satya Nadella, Mustafa Suleyman Organizations: Microsoft, Mobile, California's Civil Rights Department, Employees Locations: Barcelona, California, Redmond , Washington

☆ CEOs from Mark Zuckerberg to Sundar Pichai explain why companies are making cuts this year
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-27 | by ( Ana Altchek | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A number of Big Tech companies have laid off staff this year, including Google, Tesla, Apple, and dozens more. Ironically, companies haven't been slowing down on innovation, with many releasing a constant stream of AI updates and product launches. Mark Zuckerberg shared his theory on the first round of industry-wide layoffs in an interview with "Morning Brew Daily" in February. AdvertisementSalesforce CEO and cofounder Mark Benioff also relayed the same sentiment in a letter to employees announcing layoffs in 2023. But for the moment, tech companies don't seem to be slowing down on AI advancement.

Persons: —, Mark Zuckerberg, Jason Citron, Sundar Pichai, Mark Benioff, Zuckerberg, Emily Chang, Wayfair's cofounders, Niraj Shah, Steve Conine, Jobs, Satya Nadella, Arvind Krishna, Drew Houston Organizations: Service, Big Tech, Google, Apple, Business, Bloomberg, ARM, IBM, Dropbox Locations: Zuckerberg's

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