Microsoft

80% of H-1B filings were for existing employees, not new hires: Microsoft

Microsoft has said 80 per cent of the 6000 H1-B visa applications it had submitted last fiscal year were to extend or change the status of existing employees and not to hire new people. The statement came on Thursday hours after Vice President J D Vance suspended Microsoft from a programme to apply for green cards for foreign workers, accusing it of abusing the system. "We believe in the strength and talent of the American workforce. That is why the vast majority of Microsoft employees in the US are Americans. We look forward to providing the administration with additional information," Microsoft said. "For example, of the approximately 6,000 H-1B visa applications we submitted in the last fiscal year, 80 per cent were to extend or change the status of existing Microsoft employees. These were not to hire new people," it said. The remaining filings for new employees were for individuals already legally in the United States who decided to come work for us, and they equal only one per

Nvidia RTX Spark PCs coming in October: What to expect from new platform

Nvidia RTX Spark-powered Windows PCs are set to arrive in October, combining Blackwell graphics, a Grace CPU and unified memory for AI agents, gaming and creator workloads

Britain's reliance on US cloud giants sparks concern among politicians

Some of the UK's most critical public services such as health, defence and tax administration are migrating to US clouds, raising concern among Members of Parliament

35 yrs of liberalisation: Hyderabad's journey from IT hub to 'Future City'

Economic liberalisation, policy continuity and global investments transformed Hyderabad from a historic trading centre into a powerhouse of IT, pharma, GCCs and emerging technologies

AI could cause a billion deaths, safety concerns 'not a hoax': Bill Gates

In a recent interview, Microsoft co-founder said that self-regulation is insufficient and urged US Congress to mandate monitoring and safeguards; he also contradicted Trump's 'just a hoax' statement

Microsoft abandons personal AI chatbot race with Copilot reboot

It allows users to edit Word or Excel documents within a Copilot app or browser tab, addressing a common gripe that Microsoft's assistant had only limited reach into its own productivity software

Microsoft opens data centre in Telangana amid AI infra expansion push

Microsoft's India South Central data centre region is now live in Telangana, as the state targets 5 GW of capacity and around $30 billion in AI and digital infrastructure investment by 2029

Namaste AI: Local languages hold the key to mass AI adoption in India

Building AI platforms that can interact in local languages is key to growing the technology in India and bridging the digital divide

Microsoft AI chief warns against teaching AI systems to act humanlike

A corporate spat between two tech giants last week was just the latest volley in a conflict over whether dangerous mistakes are being made in AI training

India set for major data centre push in 5-6 years: Microsoft's Chandok

India is set to build over 70% of its data centre capacity in the next five to six years, driven by AI workloads, data localisation and rising enterprise demand

Govt asks Microsoft to set up data centres closer to power generation sites

The government on Monday asked Microsoft to locate future data centres closer to power generation sources rather than near cable landing stations, with Electronics and IT Secretary S Krishnan saying this would cut costs for both the company and the country. Speaking at the launch of Microsoft's fourth India cloud region in Hyderabad, Krishnan said it was easier and more economical to build data centres near power sources than near coastal cable landing hubs such as Chennai. "It will be much more economical if you go closer to where the power itself is generating," he said, adding that the government would continue to facilitate faster approvals to meet the requirements of both the country and the world. Microsoft on Monday formally launched its fourth India cloud region, in Hyderabad, as part of its USD 20.5 billion investment commitment to the country's digital and AI infrastructure. The India South Central region, which became generally available on August 6, joins the company's

Microsoft launches 4th India cloud region in Hyderabad to boost AI capacity

Microsoft on Monday formally launched its fourth India cloud region, in Hyderabad, as part of its USD 20.5 billion investment commitment to the country's digital and AI infrastructure. The India South Central region, which became generally available on August 6, joins the company's existing regions in Pune, Chennai and Mumbai. The Hyderabad facility uses effectively zero water for cooling, relying on air-cooled chillers instead of traditional water-based systems, Microsoft India and South Asia President Puneet Chandok said. He noted that the country has about 2 GW of data centre capacity, which is set to rise to 6-7 GW by 2035, with over USD 100 billion in investments already committed. India would emerge as an AI infrastructure hub not just for itself but for Asia and the Global South, Chandok said. In a video message, Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith said the new region would give organisations in India, and more broadly Asia, more capacity, greater resilience and m

Satya Nadella warns AI must stay under human control in internal memo

The Microsoft CEO's internal warning comes alongside a new code that says AI should remain a tool for humans rather than act as an autonomous entity

Microsoft drafts AI code to keep all future systems under human control

Draft code would prohibit Microsoft's AI from resisting correction or shutdown, reject model rights and be used to train future systems after six weeks of public feedback

How an Indian-origin CEO with no gaming experience is 'fixing Xbox mess'

Seven months into the job, Asha Sharma is overseeing a series of changes across Xbox's gaming business, from a 3,200-job restructuring to changes in cloud gaming and new partnerships

Companies not cutting jobs due to AI: Microsoft Indi's Puneet Chandok

Microsoft India and South Asia President Puneet Chandok says the transition to AI requires new skills, ways of working and organisational structures across companies

Another AI open letter arrives, but this one is different for a reason

Backed by over 100 organisations, OpenAI's letter calls on tech firms, governments and AI developers to strengthen cyber defences as AI raises capabilities for both attackers and defenders

Turbulent AI era needs urgent global plan for transition: Bill Gates

The Microsoft co-founder says artificial intelligence could transform health, education and prosperity, but warns job losses, security threats and social harms demand coordinated action now

Moonshot AI in talks with Microsoft, Amazon, Google over K3 revenue sharing

Any deal could mark the first big revenue-sharing pact between a Chinese AI firm and a major US cloud company

Meta has quietly become one of Microsoft's largest AI customers

A major prong of Microsoft's AI strategy is offering models from a variety of providers through a marketplace called Foundry, which had 100,000 customers as of July.