Microsoft is considering a stricter policy on office attendance, and the software giant could implement this as soon as January for some employees, according to people with knowledge of the plans.
Implementation dates could vary across Microsoft's offices, but the company is considering requiring employees at its Redmond, Washington, headquarters to work from the office more often starting in January, the people told Business Insider.
The company is still finalizing the details and had been planning to make an announcement as soon as September, the people added. They asked not to be identified discussing private matters.
Microsoft has had a flexible work policy since late 2020, letting most employees work remotely for as much as 50% of the time without approval. In practice, this policy has been much more flexible, allowing most employees to work remotely most of the time.
Now, the company is considering a new policy that requires most employees to work in the office at least three days a week, the people with knowledge of the plans told BI.
Microsoft spokesperson Frank Shaw confirmed the company is considering updating its flexible work guidelines. He said no decisions have been finalized.
Getting in line on RTO
Such a move would bring Microsoft more in line with other Big Tech companies, which have been rolling out tougher RTO policies this year.
Amazon, Microsoft's crosstown rival, mandated a rigid RTO policy earlier this year that required employees to work in-person five days a week. AT&T introduced a similar policy late last year and CEO John Stankey recently told staff to get on board or get out.
The policy Microsoft is considering would be similar to those at Meta and Google, which generally require most employees to work from offices three days a week. Some Microsoft teams, such as the Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs (CELA) group, already work in the office more than three days a week.
More pressure on employees
Cracking down on remote work is part of a broader trend in the tech industry that includes increased employee-performance pressure at Microsoft and other companies.
Microsoft's cloud and AI boss Scott Guthrie told employees in an internal meeting last September that the company would not consider changing its flexible work policy unless there was a noticeable drop in productivity.
It's unclear whether that's happened, but what is clear is that Microsoft's approach to employee performance has changed since then. The company fired thousands of employees deemed low performers this year and introduced a new performance improvement plan meant to exit low performers more quickly.
Microsoft's top finance executive Amy Hood last week told employees in an internal memo that the upcoming year will require "intensity," building on an earlier memo from CEO Satya Nadella asking employees for "dedication, drive, and hard work."
Apple’s latest MacBook Air is one of the best laptops on sale. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
If you want a great laptop, you’re going to have to fork over a ton of money, right? Not necessarily. There are dozens of good laptops on the market at various price points. However, it can feel overwhelming to find the right one for your needs (some are better suited for, say, college students, whereas others are ideal for gamers).
That’s why we’ve come up with this list of some of the best laptop deals available right now. In addition to the latest discounts, we’ll share each discounted model’s best features (and downsides) to give you more clarity during your shopping journey. And if you need to do more research, you can also check out our guides to the best laptops on the market and the top gaming laptops.
The 2020 MacBook Air has been discontinued but remains a great value. It comes outfitted with the company’s original M1 chip in one of three different colors (silver, space gray, and gold).
Apple itself no longer sells the 13-inch MacBook Air with M1 — and hasn’t for years — but you can still get this solid laptop for $599.99 ($50 off) at Walmart. The 2020 model is available in one configuration, with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, but it’s still capable at handling basic tasks like a champ, including streaming video, browsing, and dealing with documents. You can also use the M1 MacBook Air for creative work in Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, Logic, and Pixelmator, though you may experience slowdown due to its low 8GB of memory.
The laptop’s battery lasted between eight and ten hours when we originally reviewed it, and those figures should be mostly accurate, barring some differences likely caused by operating system updates. In addition to offering great performance for its price, the laptop also comes with other nice-to-have features, including a comfortable keyboard and an excellent trackpad. Just note its 720p webcam isn’t particularly good, so if a high-resolution webcam matters a lot to you, you may want to buy one separately. Also, be aware that, due to the limitations of the M1 chip, you can only use one external display at a time and port selection is also more limited than newer models.
The 2022 MacBook Air is a thin, lightweight device powered by Apple’s M2 chip. The M2 model touts an improved 1080p webcam and a better display than its predecessor while retaining features like long battery life and MagSafe charging.
Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Air with the M2 chip is a significant leap above the M1 model it succeeded, both in terms of design and performance. The old wedge-shaped look was replaced for a more squared-off design that’s still used by the current-generation MacBook Air. It has a 1080p webcam, which was a welcome improvement given the disappointing camera on the 2020 M1 model. It’s also much lighter and thus more portable as well, yet it retains features like MagSafe charging and Touch ID, as well as a nice display.
Despite its age, the M2 processor inside of this machine is still powerful enough to handle many tasks, from common ones such as browsing to more complex and creative projects. Compared to newer, pricier models, this one unsurprisingly struggles with gaming. That being said, it’s capable of runningCyberpunk 2077. The entry-level 13-inch MacBook Air with M2 launched with 8GB of RAM, but that configuration became unavailable last year when Apple made 16GB the new standard.
While a well-rounded laptop overall, there is one key area where Apple’s M1 model is better: storage. The base M2 MacBook Air with 256GB of storage is actually slower than its predecessor because it’s stored in a single NAND chip. This was corrected in subsequent MacBook Air models, so the slowdown is unique to M2 machines with 256GB of storage. Also, be aware as well that port selection isn’t great, and the included display notch — which is also found on both the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros — can make using the menu bar more challenging until you get used to it. If that doesn’t bother you, however, you can get a configuration with 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, an 8-core CPU and GPU for $699 ($100 off) at Best Buy.
The M4 MacBook Air has a speedy processor, and double the RAM of previous models. It has a thin and light design, all day battery life, and still starts with 256GB of storage.
The 13-inch MacBook Air with M4 is Apple’s latest thin and lightweight laptop, and it’s our top pick in The Verge’s guide to the best laptops right now. It’s not a MacBook Pro, but Apple’s M4 processor in the Air is still mighty capable. In our tests, it only throttled under heavy load from creative applications, which is understandable given its fanless design. The machine comes with 16GB of RAM as standard rather than an optional upgrade, but the base configuration still comes with just 256GB of storage, so be mindful of that limitation if you work with a lot of larger files.
Apple hasn’t increased the number of ports on a MacBook Air since reintroducing MagSafe to the M2 model in 2022, but this generation has Thunderbolt 4 ports rather than Thunderbolt 3 for faster file transfer speeds. Another notable addition is the 1080p Center Stage camera from the MacBook Pro, so you’ll stay in frame if you move around on a video call. Battery life should last all day, though your experience will vary depending on how hard you push this machine.
You can currently get a configuration of the 13-inch with M4 with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and a 10-core CPU and GPU for $799 ($200 off) at Amazon and Best Buy. If you need a larger screen, you can get the 15-inch MacBook Air with the same specs for $999 ($200 off) at Amazon and Best Buy.
The entry-level MacBook Pro with M4 starts with 16GB of RAM — double that of its predecessor — and a 512GB SSD for the same starting price of $1,599. It also gets a third USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 port and comes in a new space black option.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro with a 12-core / 16-core M4 Pro chip starts with 24GB of RAM — a 6GB increase over the prior generation. It also has a 512GB SSD, three Thunderbolt 5 USB-C ports, an optional nano-texture display, and a 12-megapixel webcam.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro with M4 Pro starts with 24GB of RAM and offers more computing cores (14 for the CPU and 20 for the GPU) compared to the 14-inch model. It also picks up Thunderbolt 5 ports and a new 12-megapixel Center Stage camera.
The M4 generation MacBook Pros are Apple’s fastest laptops yet. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M4 starts with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, and comes equipped with three Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI port, an SD card slot, and a MagSafe charging port. It can send video to two external displays simultaneously (the previous generation could only handle one) and has an improved 12-megapixel Center Stage camera with better video quality.
The M4 MacBook Pro and M4 MacBook Air run on the same chip, but the Pro’s cooling system is better, so it handles resource-intensive tasks (including games) without throttling as easily. The laptop’s 14.2-inch screen is bright (up to 1,600 nits when viewing HDR content), and supports the P3 color gamut, both of which are important to professionals who rely on color accuracy when editing photos and video. The display has a 120Hz refresh rate, so scrolling through webpages or moving windows around should appear smoother than 60Hz screens. In our stress test, which included editing 33-megapixel RAW images and working with a large photo library in Adobe Lightroom, the laptop ran for 12 hours without kicking up the fans or feeling hot to the touch.
If you want even more power, you can jump up to the 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M4 Pro processor. It comes with 24GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, a 12-core CPU, and a 16-core GPU. The M4 Pro MacBook Pro has over twice the memory bandwidth of the base M4 MacBook Pro, so it should perform better across the board. That said, it might be tough to notice the benefits of its extra memory and processing power during casual use, but it will come in handy when you’re pushing the laptop to the limits while video editing or playing games. It has three Thunderbolt 5 ports, and you can use that extra bandwidth with an external SSD with fast transfer speeds, to name an example. You can also get the MacBook Pro with M4 Pro with a 16-inch screen if you’d like to work on a larger display.
Right now, the 14-inch M4 model with 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU is $1,299 ($300 off) at Best Buy and $200 off at B&H Photo. You can get a 14-inch M4 Pro model with 24GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, 12-core CPU, and 16-core GPU for around $1,786 at Amazon, Best Buy, and B&H Photo. The 16-inch M4 Pro MacBook Pro with 24GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, 14-core CPU, and 20-core GPU is currently on sale for around $2,234 at Amazon and B&H Photo.
We chose Microsoft’s 7th Edition Surface Laptop as one of the best laptops you can get because it’s the top Snapdragon Copilot Plus PC we’ve tried yet. The laptop runs on a power-efficient ARM processor that doesn’t skimp on performance. Its 13.8-inch 2,304 x 1,536 120Hz screen supports Dolby Vision HDR (High Dynamic Range) and looks very nice. It has a large, precision haptic trackpad that gives you plenty of room to tap and swipe, an offers satisfying feedback no matter where you press it.
The laptop has a pair of USB 4 ports, one USB-A 3.1 Gen 1 port, plus a headphone jack. One of the concerns of using an ARM-based Windows PC has been software compatibility, but this model proves that’s no longer something to be as worried about. It runs Photoshop, and apps compiled for X86 processors work thanks to Microsoft’s Prism emulator. Be sure to check the compatibility of the specific Windows app you rely, though, as there’s still a chance they won’t work as intended.
Even after our toughest tests, the battery lasted seven hours. That’s with 100 percent screen brightness, after downloading multiple Steam games, attending video calls, and running through multiple projects in Photoshop. Using the laptop with less power-hungry apps, including Slack, WhatsApp, Discord, and Chrome, the laptop used just 30 percent of its battery in seven hours. For the best battery life, you’ll want to stick to using native ARM apps when possible. If you want to make the switch to an ARM-based laptop to get some of the benefits MacBook users have had for years, the 7th Generation Surface Laptop is worth checking out.
You can get a 13.8-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop (7th Edition) with a Snapdragon X Plus processor, 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD for $999 ($100 off) at Amazon. A model with the Snapdragon X Elite processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD is on sale for $1,099.99 ($300 off) at Best Buy.
Acer’s Spin Chromebook is configured with Intel’s first generation of processor with an NPU. It also has Google Gemini baked right into the OS, and if you sign up for a new Google One AI premium plan, your first year of service is free.
Verge reviewer Antonio G. Di Benedetto chose Acer’s Chromebook Plus Spin 714 as one of the best laptops for students because it offers an excellent balance of power, battery life, specs, and value. It’s also made the cut in our guide to the best Chromebooks because it supports Google’s Gemini smart assistant, and comes with a one-year subscription to Google’s One AI premium service. The current-generation laptop is a solid choice a year after it was released thanks in part to its Intel Core Ultra 5 Series 1 processor, which allows you to run Linux apps instead of being limited to software solely available through Google’s Play Store.
On to the specs: The laptop has a 14-inch 1920 x 1200 resolution touchscreen display, which can be flipped 180 degrees, so you can use the laptop as a large tablet if you prefer. The Plus Spin 714 has two Thunderbolt 4 ports and an HDMI port, which is an acceptable array of ports for a Chromebook. However, it only has 8GB of RAM, which will likely be a performance bottleneck if you intend to keep dozens of tabs open.
If your needs are relatively light and you don’t mind working mostly in the cloud instead of with local files, this is a solid computer. You can grab the Chromebook Plus Spin 714 for $629 ($170 off) at Best Buy.
The Asus Zenbook S 16 features AMD’s Ryzen AI mobile processors. It’s one of the thinnest and lightest 16-inch laptops available and doesn’t cut corners on performance. It’s a mighty machine that can handle all sorts of heavy workloads with ease and grace.
We chose Asus’ Zenbook S 16 as another one of our top recommendations for students, but it’s a solid laptop for anyone who wants a large-screened Windows laptop. In our tests, the 16-inch 120Hz 3K (2,880 x 1,800) OLED display emits vivid colors and excellent contrast. The laptop was more than capable of handling common tasks, including video chats using its 1080p webcam, music streaming, but its graphics and gaming performance is what really sets it apart from laptops in its size and price classes.
This machine runs Cyberpunk 2077 at around 77 frames per second with the resolution set to 1080p with AMD’s FSR 2.1 upscaling software turned on. The laptop isn’t designed for gaming, but it’s good to know it’s up to the task if you’re willing to turn down some graphical settings. The Zenbook S 16’s battery lasted 11 hours during our testing. However, the percentage indicator in the Windows taskbar would often fluctuate, making it difficult to pin down exactly how much juice was left.
You can get a configuration of the laptop with 32GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor for $1,299.99 ($500 off) from Asus if you sign up for a free Asus membership. We signed up for the membership, and it took about five minutes from start to finish.
Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 (2025, RTX 5080)
Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 (2025, RTX 5080)
Asus’ ROG Strix Scar 16 is a powerful gaming laptop configured with a 16-inch 2.5K 240Hz screen, Nvidia 5080 graphics card, Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, 32GB of RAM, and 2TB of storage.
If you want to take a powerful gaming PC with you on the go, Asus’ ROG Strix Scar 16 is one of the best we recommend. It has a 16-inch 240Hz Mini LED display with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600. The screen can’t quite match an OLED when it comes to rich contrast, but you get Dolby Vision HDR here, and its color accuracy impressed us in our tests. The laptop has larger keys instead of a number pad, which makes sense for a gaming-focused laptop. If you need a number pad, you can bring up a touch-sensitive one by clicking and holding the top part of the laptop’s large trackpad.
Under the hood, Asus fitted the ROG Strix Scar 16 with an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, 32GB of RAM, 2TB of storage, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 graphics card with 16GB of dedicated video memory. The laptop’s display supports Nvidia’s G-Sync technology, so you shouldn’t see screen tearing or other graphical anomalies when playing games. The laptop has three USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, an ethernet port, and two Thunderbolt 5 ports. You can use either the HDMI 2.1 port or Thunderbolt 5 ports to carry a 4K 120Hz video signal to a compatible TV or gaming monitor.
In case aesthetics matter to you, the ROG Strix Scar 16 has RGB lighting on its underside as well as a dot-matrix LED array that can display animations on its lid. These features aren’t new, but each can add some flair to your setup. Right now, you can get the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 in its base configuration for around $2999.99 ($300 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart.
Update, August 5th: Updated pricing and availability, and added new deals on Apple’s MacBook Air with M4, the MacBook Pro with M4 Pro, the Asus Zenbook S 16, the Asus ROG Strix Scar 16, Microsoft’s 7th Generation Surface Laptop, and Acer’s Chromebook Plus Spin 714.
Microsoft just posted the fourth and final quarter of its 2025 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $76.4 billion in revenue and a net income of $27.2 billion during Q4. Revenue is up 18 percent, and net income has increased by 24 percent.
Like clockwork, cloud services are the strong point of Microsoft’s revenue this quarter. Azure revenue grew 39 percent year-over-year, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says “Azure surpassed $75 billion in revenue” for the entire financial year, up 34 percent.
The impressive cloud earnings come just weeks after the software maker laid off as many as 9,000 employees earlier this month. Microsoft says it employed 228,000 people on a full-time basis as of June 30th, the same amount as 2024 before the most recent layoffs.
Windows and Surface revenue
The PC market is still feeling the effects of the Trump tariffs and consumer spending, while businesses look to refresh PCs ahead of Windows 10’s end of support in October. As a result, Windows OEM and devices revenue is up3 percent year over year, driven by growth in Windows OEM revenue.
Gartner said earlier this month that PC shipments were up more than 4 percent in the recent quarter, thanks to a Windows 11 refresh cycle for desktop PCs. Microsoft primarily makes money from Windows through OEM revenue, the price that manufacturers pay to license Windows for laptops and PCs.
While this time last year Microsoft’s Surface revenue had been in decline for two years, Microsoft started combining Windows and devices revenue together during this past financial year, so it’s still not clear how Surface is performing. Microsoft CFO Amy Hood did reveal on the company’s earnings call today that devices revenue is expected to decline next quarter, alongside a Windows OEM revenue decline in the “mid to high single digits.”
Microsoft did launch two new Surface devices in the recent quarter, though: the 12-inch Surface Pro and 13-inch Surface Laptop. Both devices launched midway through the quarter, so the full impact of sales on Windows OEM and devices revenue won’t be felt until next quarter.
Xbox and gaming
Xbox content and services revenue, which includes Xbox Game Pass, is up by 13 percent this quarter. Microsoft still isn’t revealing any new Game Pass subscriber numbers, though, and the last time we got an update was in February 2024, when Microsoft revealed there were 34 million subscribers, including Xbox Game Pass Core (previously Xbox Live Gold) members.
While the move to bring more Xbox games to PlayStation might have angered some fans, it has proven to be a successful choice. Preorders for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Forza Horizon 5topped Sony’s own PlayStation Store earlier this year, and Circana revealed this week that Microsoft had six of the 10 top-selling games on PlayStation in the recent quarter.
“We are now the top publisher on both Xbox and PlayStation this quarter,” said Nadella on an earnings call today. Nadella also revealed “Game Pass annual revenue was nearly $5 billion for the first time,” and confirmed that Microsoft has 500 million monthly active users across gaming platforms and devices.
Xbox hardware is still struggling, though. Xbox hardware revenue is down 22 percent this quarter, despite a busy period for Game Pass. Microsoft increased the prices of its Xbox consoles and controllers worldwide in May, with the Xbox Series X bumped by $100 to $599.99.
Overall gaming revenue at Microsoft is up 10 percent year-over-year, and has increased by $2 billion for the entire fiscal year. Xbox content and services revenue has also increased by 16 percent for the fiscal year, but Xbox hardware revenue has decreased by 25 percent in the fiscal year “driven by lower volume of consoles sold.”
Looking ahead, Microsoft is also heading to the Gamescom show next month, where it will let attendees play with its new Xbox Ally handheld devices. A playable demo of the long-awaited Hollow Knight: Silksong will also be available on the ROG Xbox Ally handhelds, as well “a couple more surprises at the show from our partners too.”
In Q1 fiscal 2026, Hood expects Xbox content and services revenue to decline in the mid single digits, alongside an overall gaming revenue decline in the mid to high single digits.
Office and cloud
Microsoft 365 commercial cloud revenue grew by 18 percent year-over-year, driven by growth in revenue per user and in part to Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses. The January price increase to Microsoft 365 consumer plans has also contributed to 20 percent of growth in Microsoft 365 Consumer cloud revenue. There are now 89 million Microsoft 365 consumer subscribers, up 8 percent year-over-year.
It’s Microsoft’s cloud growth that’s really the story this quarter once again. Azure and other cloud services grew by 39 percent, a big jump that was driven by growth across all workloads, according to Microsoft. Server products revenue declined 2 percent, a sign that Microsoft’s customers are increasingly moving to its cloud offerings.
Nadella noted on Microsoft’s earnings call that every Azure region is now AI-first, and all regions support liquid cooling.
LinkedIn revenue was also up 9 percent this quarter, with sessions also growing by 7 percent. Microsoft says it has also seen “record engagement” with LinkedIn this quarter. Even Microsoft’s search and news advertising revenue is up 21 percent, after it has overhauled Bing with AI-powered results and features.
Microsoft employees should strap in for another year of "intensity," according to the software giant's top finance executive.
Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood sent an email to employees on Wednesday after the company reported a $27 billion quarterly profit, telling them the year ahead will require "intensity, clarity, and bold execution."
Hood sends out these emails every quarter when Microsoft discloses its financials. Her missives mostly rehash what the company reports publicly, such as how revenue and profit are growing.
Sometimes, though, Hood's emails provide insight into what the company's top executives deem most important and what they want employees to know.
This time, Hood highlighted updates she said were personal "reminders of the scale and importance of the product and services our customers count on us to deliver." She noted that Azure revenue reached more than $75 billion — the first time the company has disclosed this number — and grew 34%.
What perhaps stood out most was Hood's message to employees, reiterating priorities for the upcoming year, and citing a memo from CEO Satya Nadella last week.
"We're entering FY26 with clear priorities in security, quality, and Al transformation, building on our momentum and grounded in our mission and growth-mindset culture," Hood wrote, mentioning Nadella's email. "Both the pace of change and customer expectations are continuously accelerating."
Hood's email, notably, did not mention Microsoft's recent workforce cuts, which have exceeded 10,000 this year even as profit swells. Nadella's email last week attempted to explain this "seeming incongruence" as the "enigma of success." Some employees weren't satisfied with the explanation.
Hood's email expanded on Nadella's thoughts by telling employees the upcoming fiscal year will require "intensity," which has become a buzzword in the tech industry as companies dial up performance pressure and make significant workforce cuts.
"FY26 will require intensity, clarity, and bold execution," Hood wrote. "I'm excited about what we'll accomplish together as we lead in this next frontier of innovation — driving impact at scale for every customer, every partner, and every community we serve around the world."
Microsoft reported its fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday.
Shares in the tech giant jumped after earnings came in above estimates.
CEO Satya Nadella said that cloud and AI continue to drive the company's growth.
Microsoft isn't slowing down.
The world's second-largest company by market cap reported blockbuster fourth-quarter earnings, sending shares surging so high after hours that the tech giant became a member of the exclusive $4 trillion club.
Shares were up over 9% after hours following Microsoft's strong earnings report. As a result, Microsoft joined Nvidia as the only other company to reach over $4 trillion in market cap.
Microsoft reported fourth-quarter revenue of $76.4 billion and earnings of $3.65. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected quarterly revenue of $73.89 billion and earnings of $3.37 per share.
CEO Satya Nadella said that cloud and AI continue to fuel the company's growth.
"Cloud and AI is the driving force of business transformation across every industry and sector," Nadella said in a statement. "We're innovating across the tech stack to help customers adapt and grow in this new era, and this year, Azure surpassed $75 billion in revenue, up 34 percent, driven by growth across all workloads."
CFO Amy Hood said during the earnings call that "demand remains higher than supply" as Microsoft races to bring more data centers online.
Wednesday's earnings look different than those in the past. That's because for the first time, Microsoft detailed the revenue it is making from Azure, its cloud computing platform.
Microsoft said it would spend $30 billion in capital expenditures in the coming quarter, more than analysts expected.
"I feel very good that the spend that we're making is correlated to basically contracted, on-the-books business that we need to deliver," Hood said during the earnings call.
Ahead of the release, analysts said that they were paying close attention to Microsoft's capital expenditures, particularly since Google said it would spend $85 billion. Tech companies continue to push capex spending higher amid fierce competition over the future of AI.
On Monday, Mayor Patrick Collins of Cheyenne, Wyoming, announced plans for an AI data center that would consume more electricity than all homes in the state combined, according to The Associated Press. The facility, a joint venture between energy infrastructure company Tallgrass and AI data center developer Crusoe, would start at 1.8 gigawatts and scale up to 10 gigawatts of power use.
The project's energy demands are difficult to overstate for Wyoming, the least populous US state. The initial 1.8-gigawatt phase, consuming 15.8 terawatt-hours (TWh) annually, is more than five times the electricity used by every household in the state combined. That figure represents 91 percent of the 17.3 TWh currently consumed by all of Wyoming's residential, commercial, and industrial sectors combined. At its full 10-gigawatt capacity, the proposed data center would consume 87.6 TWh of electricity annually—double the 43.2 TWh the entire state currently generates.
Because drawing this much power from the public grid is untenable, the project will rely on its own dedicated gas generation and renewable energy sources, according to Collins and company officials. However, this massive local demand for electricity—even if self-generated—represents a fundamental shift for a state that currently sends nearly 60 percent of its generated power to other states.
Microsoft devotes most of its time and energy these days to promoting new AI- and Copilot-related features for Windows 11, but the company's Windows Insider builds are still full of small tweaks and changes aimed at improving longstanding Windows features for people who just want to use their PC the way they always have.
New updates that began rolling out to testers in the Windows Insider program yesterday include a couple of small but meaningful changes for Windows power users. First, Microsoft is changing the way the Taskbar works on secondary monitors, allowing users to click it to see the calendar and Notification Center on all monitors, not just the primary display.
Microsoft is also making a change to how the various tabs in the Task Manager measure CPU usage to make it more consistent (and less nonsensical).
Adobe is finally releasing Windows on Arm versions of Premiere Pro, After Effects, Audition, and Media Encoder this week. All four apps are available as public beta versions, but they do lack some features or have some known issues compared to the versions available for Intel-powered systems.
The native ARM64 version of Premiere Pro won’t currently include support for third-party extensions, raw video files like ProRes, or the hardware-accelerated playback and export of H.264 and HEVC in MP4. Those are some big missing features that Adobe is looking to make available in a future release, but the company won’t deliver the Loudness Radar effect, export to Wraptor DCP, import & export of GoPro CineForm content, or the export to the P2 Movie format in beta or final versions of Premiere Pro for Windows on Arm.
There are some known issues with Adobe After Effects for Windows on Arm, too. It also lacks ProRes support, alongside the inability to import or export ARRIRAW, SWF, GoPro CinePro, JPEG20000 in MXF, and WMV. Currently, you can’t import MotionJPEG and MKV in the beta version of After Effects, and there’s also no hardware-accelerated playback and export of H.264 and HEVC in MP4. Adobe notes that third-party plug-ins for After Effects will have to be updated for this Windows on Arm version, so there’s no support for these just yet.
There are similar features missing from the native Windows on Arm version of Audition and Media Encoder, which are both also available in beta this week.
Adobe first released an Arm beta version of Photoshop for Windows in late 2020, but the company has taken far longer to get Premiere Pro and After Effects recompiled natively for ARM64. Owners of Qualcomm-powered Copilot Plus PCs have had to use the emulated version of Premiere Pro over the past year, which didn’t have enough performance for more demanding video editing tasks.
Last week, Microsoft announced that it would no longer use China-based engineering teams to support the Defense Department’s cloud computing systems, following ProPublica’s investigation of the practice, which cybersecurity experts said could expose the government to hacking and espionage.
But it turns out the Pentagon was not the only part of the government facing such a threat. For years, Microsoft has also used its global workforce, including China-based personnel, to maintain the cloud systems of other federal departments, including parts of Justice, Treasury and Commerce, ProPublica has found.
This work has taken place in what’s known as the Government Community Cloud, which is intended for information that is not classified but is nonetheless sensitive. The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, the US government’s cloud accreditation organization, has approved GCC to handle “moderate” impact information “where the loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability would result in serious adverse effect on an agency’s operations, assets, or individuals.”
"DeepSeek, and R1 in particular, was the first model I've seen post some points," Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella said.
Stephen Brashear via Getty Images
Some staff questioned Satya Nadella's memo on job cuts amid huge earnings.
Microsoft has shed thousands of employees this year, as it spends $80 billion on AI.
Employees speculated about the memo's intent, and whether it presages more cuts.
Microsoft employees are reacting to a memo from CEO Satya Nadella that attempted to explain why the company has cut jobs while generating huge profits and spending billions on AI.
Microsoft has shed thousands of employees this year. The company has earned $75 billion in profit over the past three fiscal quarters, and plans to spend $80 billion on AI infrastructure in 2025. The stock also hit a record earlier this month.
Nadella sent a memo to employees on Thursday describing this "seeming incongruence" as the "enigma of success." The company expects total headcount to remain roughly flat.
Inside Microsoft, some staff speculated about what may have driven Nadella to write the memo: Are more job cuts coming? Is he feeling guilty about earnings, which the company is due to report next week? Was this just a message to Wall Street?
Nadella knows employees are stressed out
Nadella wrote the letter because he knows employees are stressed about increased performance pressure, AI competition, and job cuts, a person familiar with the matter said. Microsoft's last big employee "Signals" survey came out before the recent job cuts, but the company still gauges employee sentiment through daily and weekly "pulse" surveys.
Microsoft has about 220,000 employees, so it's hard to externally gauge the sentiment across the workforce broadly.
"With a company our size, you can imagine we have a variety of reactions internally that range from positive to constructive," Microsoft spokesman Frank Shaw said. "Satya heard directly back from a number of employees who appreciated his leadership as well as the content and tone of his message."
Criticism from some workers
Reactions from some employees, shared directly with Business Insider and on an employee message board, provide a partial window into how Nadella's memo was received internally.
One employee told BI that they couldn't tell if the CEO was trying to mend feelings or prepare people for more pain.
Another said Microsoft was prioritizing KPIs over people. (KPIs, or key performance indicators, is a common way for businesses to measure how they're doing.)
Handling jobs cuts is never easy, as ousted workers often feel aggrieved and remaining staff can be demoralized.
Another Microsoft staffer told BI that Nadella's memo was tone deaf. This person compared the company to a coal mine and said the CEO is focused on getting more coal and doesn't care how he gets it.
Blind suspicion
Some users in a Blind message board, which requires a Microsoft.com email address to sign up, blasted Nadella's message.
One user posted a parody of Nadella's letter, titled "A quick memo on your continued utility."
Pretending to speak as Nadella, this person said constant chaos, shifting teams, and cancelled projects are not a bug, but a feature designed to keep workers anxious, compliant, and too scared to question leadership decisions. The person also advised colleagues to stay useful, or they risk being replaced.
Another post was an apparent critique of Nadella's email, attributed to Copilot, Microsoft's AI assistant. It argued that the rationale behind the layoffs was not fully explained, and didn't directly acknowledge the emotional toll of ongoing change or support mechanisms.
Another user on the Microsoft Blind message board speculated that Nadella was sending a signal to Wall Street. (This is a common technique for most public companies, which exist to serve shareholders, along with customers and employees.)
Microsoft likely understood that the CEO memo would be leaked to BI, suggesting it was crafted as a reminder to investors that layoffs have been happening, there are more to come, business is strong, this person wrote.
On Tuesday, OpenAI announced a partnership with Oracle to develop 4.5 gigawatts of additional data center capacity for its Stargate AI infrastructure platform in the US. The expansion, which TechCrunch reports is part of a $30 billion-per-year deal between OpenAI and Oracle, will reportedly bring OpenAI's total Stargate capacity under development to over 5 gigawatts.
The data center has taken root in Abilene, Texas, a city of 127,000 located 150 miles west of Fort Worth. The city, which serves as the commercial hub of a 19-county region known as the "Big Country," offers a location with existing tech employment ecosystem, including Dyess Air Force Base and three universities. Abilene's economy has evolved over time from its agricultural and livestock roots to embrace technology and manufacturing sectors.
"We have signed a deal for an additional 4.5 gigawatts of capacity with oracle as part of stargate. easy to throw around numbers, but this is a gigantic infrastructure project," wrote OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on X. "We are planning to significantly expand the ambitions of stargate past the $500 billion commitment we announced in January."
One of the hacked organizations reportedly includes the U.S. agency responsible for maintaining the country's stockpile of nuclear weapons. China-backed hackers have been observed carrying out the hacks targeting SharePoint servers.
Following a Pro Publica report that Microsoft was using engineers in China to help maintain cloud computing systems for the U.S. Department of Defense, the company said it’s made changes to ensure this will no longer happen.
Microsoft's data center boom has been imperiling its 2030 carbon negative pledge, so the tech giant is turning to Vaulted Deep, which operates like a reverse oil company.
I like to drive without the distractions of my work life interrupting me, but if you’re eager to stay connected then Mercedes-Benz is ready. You’ll soon be able to join a Microsoft Teams call in some Mercedes‑Benz vehicles and use the in-car camera to chat with colleagues while you’re driving.
Mercedes‑Benz is the first car maker to enable in-car camera use for Microsoft Teams while a car is being driven, but there are some important safety caveats. While you can share a video stream of yourself merrily driving along, you won’t be able to see any shared screens or slides while you’re in motion.
Usually video meeting apps like Teams, Zoom, or WebEx only work while a car is stationary, so this Mercedes‑Benz functionality is clearly designed primarily for that colleague — you know the one — who always has to let everyone know they’re working no matter what.
The meeting video stream will be automatically turned off as soon as the in-car camera is enabled, but other meeting participants will still see your camera feed while you’re driving — so don’t forget it’s on if you get the urge to rummage around your nostrils. The in-car camera support for Microsoft Teams will arrive first on the new CLA, and it’s part of several “productivity enhancements” that Mercedes‑Benz is making this summer.
Microsoft and Mercedes‑Benz are also working together to integrate Microsoft 365 Copilot into “the latest vehicles,” which would be a first of its kind in a car. The experience will be driven by voice prompts, allowing drivers to summarize emails, manage daily tasks, and more.
Mercedes‑Benz gleefully describes this as having “the potential to transform the vehicle into a third workspace, complementing the office and the home office.” I don’t know about you, but I already have enough workplaces, thanks to smartphones and laptops, and I have zero desire to work while I’m driving.
Mercedes‑Benz only mentions the all-new CLA for this new Teams app, but given the latest E-Class models have a selfie camera for apps like TikTok and Zoom, it’s likely we’ll see this functionality show up on other MB.OS-powered vehicles.
Your college years are typically thought of as some of the best of your life, but they can be hard to enjoy to the fullest if you're worried about paying for the essentials like food, textbooks, supplies and, if you're lucky, the occasional evening out with friends. With everything going up in price, it may seem like good discounts are few and far between, but that's not the case. Students still have excellent discounts to take advantage of across the board, be it on streaming services, shopping subscriptions, digital tools and more. We’ve collected the best student discounts we could find on useful services, along with some things you’ll enjoy in your down time. Just keep in mind that most of these offers require you to prove your status as a student either by signing up with your .edu email address or providing a valid student ID.
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You shouldn’t rely on social media to be your sole source of news. With foreign wars, new viruses, Supreme Court decisions and upcoming elections making headlines daily, it’s important to get your news from reliable sources. Yes, it’s daunting to get into the news on a regular basis, but it’s crucial to know what’s going on in the country and the world as a whole. Here are some reputable news organizations that offer student discounts on their monthly or annual subscription plans.
The Atlantic: Starts at $50 per year for digital-only access.
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