Xbox’s next era may start with a painful question about console prices

Xbox is putting unusual pressure on its own console business, and a new Xbox Wire post gives players a clear reason to watch for an Xbox price hike. Microsoft says storage and memory prices are climbing fast, while Xbox can’t currently make as many con…

The researcher Microsoft threatened just dropped a seventh Windows zero-day hours after Patch Tuesday
The researcher Microsoft threatened just dropped a seventh Windows zero-day hours after Patch Tuesday

Chaotic Eclipse, the security researcher Microsoft threatened with criminal prosecution, has published a seventh Windows zero-day exploit. Called RoguePlanet, it grants attackers SYSTEM privileges on fully patched Windows 10 and 11 machines. The resear…

Microsoft’s president responds to the AI backlash with a 3,000-word essay and zero policy changes
Microsoft’s president responds to the AI backlash with a 3,000-word essay and zero policy changes

Microsoft President Brad Smith has responded to the wave of graduating students booing AI at commencement ceremonies with a 3,000-word essay that acknowledges their concerns and offers no concrete changes. Published on Microsoft’s official blog on Tues…

Xbox warns of a ‘reset’ as it prepares for layoffs
Xbox warns of a ‘reset’ as it prepares for layoffs

Microsoft’s Xbox division will be hit with significant layoffs next month, according to people familiar with Microsoft’s plans. The company has been preparing for the layoffs internally for weeks, with Xbox CEO Asha Sharma hinting about “making hard choices” last month. Sources suggest the cuts could even involve a studio closure, or changes to the […]

Microsoft, like, totally gets why students are booing AI-pilled graduation speakers
Microsoft, like, totally gets why students are booing AI-pilled graduation speakers

New college graduates around the country have been booing and heckling commencement speakers who hype up AI. Microsoft would like everyone to talk it out. In a blog post running more than 3,100 words, Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith addressed the recent spate of viral clips from graduation ceremonies, like former Google CEO […]

Microsoft restricts Claude Fable for employees over data retention concerns
Microsoft restricts Claude Fable for employees over data retention concerns

Anthropic released Claude Fable, its first Mythos-class AI model, yesterday and it’s already causing concerns inside Microsoft. Sources tell me that Microsoft is limiting the use of Claude Fable 5 for employees because of Anthropic’s new data retention requirements. While Microsoft quickly rolled out Claude Fable 5 to its GitHub Copilot and Foundry customers, I’m […]

Xbox exploring ‘radically different’ console business models
Xbox exploring ‘radically different’ console business models

The RAMageddon crisis has got Microsoft rethinking its Xbox console hardware business. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and Xbox strategy chief Matthew Ball have both revealed this week that Microsoft is reevaluating plans for its next-generation Project Helix console and exploring “radically different” console business models in the meantime. “We are working very hard to rethink […]

Microsoft is disabling Office 2019 for Mac next month
Microsoft is disabling Office 2019 for Mac next month

Microsoft’s Office 2019 apps for Mac will stop working next month, because the company isn’t renewing a certificate that validates Office licenses. Owners of Office 2019 for Mac are being warned they’ll have to purchase Office 2024 or a Microsoft 365 subscription if they want to continue editing documents. Microsoft previously promised that “all your […]

Microsoft AI head calls out Anthropic for acting like Claude is conscious
Microsoft AI head calls out Anthropic for acting like Claude is conscious

Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman says it’s “really, really dangerous” for Anthropic to speculate about Claude’s consciousness inside its “constitution,” or the instructions that tell the model how to behave. During an episode of Decoder, Suleyman argues that this kind of speculation may have set up the chatbot to act as though it’s conscious: I […]

Microsoft AI chief walks back comments about AI taking over white-collar work
Microsoft AI chief walks back comments about AI taking over white-collar work

Microsoft AI head Mustafa Suleyman is walking back his statement about AI automating jobs done by white-collar workers, including lawyers, accountants, and project managers. During an episode of Decoder on Monday, Suleyman says he meant AI will help these workers complete tasks, rather than do their jobs: Sending an email, having a conversation with a […]