Microsoft pushed throughout 2023 to add generative AI capabilities to its software, even extending its new Copilot AI assistant to Windows 10 late last year. Now, those efforts to transform PCs at a software level is extending to the hardware: Microsoft is adding a dedicated Copilot key to PC keyboards, adjusting the standard Windows keyboard layout for the first time since the Windows key first appeared on its Natural Keyboard in 1994.

Sam Altman, who was ousted as CEO of OpenAI in a chaotic boardroom coup Friday, is joining Microsoft, the tech giant said Monday. Meanwhile, Emmett Shear, the former CEO of streaming service Twitch, will join OpenAI.

"Consistent execution by our sales teams and partners drove a strong start to the fiscal year with Microsoft Cloud revenue of $31.8 billion, up 24% (up 23% in constant currency) year-over-year," said Amy Hood, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Microsoft.

Tech companies are touting new AI technology that can spit out business memos or computer code. They are still figuring out how those products will generate a profit.

With this all-cash acquisition, Microsoft is now the third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony.

European Union regulators have opened a formal investigation into claims that Microsoft is unfairly bundling its Teams video conferencing app with its popular Office software as Brussels intensifies its scrutiny of big technology groups.

Though technology companies announced massive layoffs last year, 2023 has been much worse. So far, layoffs have far outpaced those in all of 2022, as tech giants including Amazon, Facebook parent company Meta, Microsoft, Google, IBM, SAP, and Salesforce - as well as many smaller companies - announce sweeping job cuts.

Microsoft is contemplating cutting about 5% of its workforce, or about 11,000 roles.

Microsoft is to take a 4% equity stake in London Stock Exchange Group as part of a 10-year commercial deal to migrate the exchange operator's data platform into the cloud, the British company said on Monday.

Meta, Microsoft and other tech giants racing to build the emerging metaverse concept have formed a group to foster development of industry standards that would make the companies' nascent digital worlds compatible with each other.

Microsoft doesn't disclose Azure revenue in dollars. but said there will be a sequential growth acceleration in constant currency in the current quarter for Azure.

Microsoft posted its most profitable quarter on Tuesday, beating Wall Street expectations for revenue and earnings, as PC sales declines stemming from a global chip shortage were more than made up for by a boom in cloud services.

Some of the world's biggest chip buyers, including Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet's Google, are joining top chip-makers such as Intel to create a new lobbying group to press for government chip manufacturing subsidies.

The EU body said personal data may have been accessed from its servers. And it had pulled its entire email system offline while it assessed the damage.

A sophisticated attack on Microsoft's widely used business email software is morphing into a global cybersecurity crisis, as hackers race to infect as many victims as possible before companies can secure their computer systems. The attack, which Microsoft has said started with a Chinese government-backed hacking group, has so far claimed at least 60,000 known victims globally, according to a former senior US official with knowledge of the investigation.

A new approach to news announcements from Microsoft

2021 will be full of console and GPU shortages

Estimates suggest that Azure is already bigger than Windows and commercial subscriptions to Office 365 productivity applications.

Azure revenue growth accelerated and came in above analysts' expectations for the quarter.

Microsoft has backtracked on an announcement that it would raise the price of Xbox Live Gold memberships after an outcry from gamers.

Microsoft has entered into a long-term strategic relationship with GM and Cruise to accelerate the commercialization of self-driving vehicles.

Microsoft's new Surface Pro 7+ for Business is not available to consumers, at least for now.

Microsoft is 'working as hard as we can' to increase Xbox Series X/S stock

Microsoft may go down the same route as Apple in shifting away from Intel for its products, with the software giant said to be working on its own processor designs that may end up in its Surface computer line.

Now that Microsoft's Windows on ARM emulation layer can also run 64-bit x86 code, inevitably there will be questions as to how it compares with the Apple M1.

In the meantime, current users can download an enhanced TikTok app.

This includes efforts to fight hate and harassment.

Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are investing more heavily in software, subscriptions and content.

Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm will all support Microsoft Pluton

Microsoft is directing shareholders' attention to revenue from games and gaming services, which includes sales of games for a variety of devices, including the PlayStation.

Microsoft on Tuesday launched two models of its Xbox gaming console, seven years after the debut of the previous version, to capture a pandemic-driven boom in consumer spending on games.

Microsoft's results beat across the board as Azure grew more than some analysts had expected, although guidance for the next quarter was soft.

Arm on Thursday said it was partnering with Microsoft to create tools that will help software developers transfer data from tiny sensor chips to Microsoft's cloud computing service.

Microsoft said it would build 3 data centers in greater Athens and by 2025 would train 100,000 people in Greece in digital technologies.

Microsoft on Tuesday denied a recent suggestion by the U.S. Department of Labor that its plan to bolster diversity, including by investing $150 million (瞿116.5 million) and doubling the number of Black employees in high-ranking positions, amounted to illegal race discrimination.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk doesn't seem to approve of Microsoft's deal with OpenAI - the research company he co-founded in 2015.

Microsoft will offer a new service called Azure Orbital that connects satellites directly to its cloud computing network.

It's Microsoft's turn to feed the Xbox Series X shopping frenzy, after retailers opened up Sony's PlayStation 5 preorders last week. Demand for the video game systems is off-the-charts, but ordering either console has been a difficult experience for many gamers.

The company plans to replenish more water than it uses.

Microsoft on Monday announced plans to purchase game publisher Bethesda Softworks's parent company, ZeniMax, in a landmark $7.5 billion acquisition deal.