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What happened to Skype?

Skype is not what it was. You may or may not have noticed.

The voice, video and messaging app became a hit in the 2000s by letting people talk with friends and family members without paying long-distance fees. In 2005 eBay bought it. That deal didn’t work out as planned, and an investor group led by Silver Lake purchased a majority stake. Microsoft then stepped in, shelling out $8.5 billion for the company in 2011.

Even backed by the world’s largest software company, Skype is falling by the wayside. During the pandemic, consumers and business workers turned to tools like Zoom and Meta’s WhatsApp, and now there are any number of options to quickly connect with groups of friends and colleagues over smartphones.

“Skype is still seen primarily as one-to-one,” Jim Gaynor, a research vice president at advisory firm Directions on Microsoft, said in a CNBC interview.

Microsoft has promoted Skype in Outlook and Windows and even enriched the app with its Bing generative artificial intelligence chatbot. But the numbers still don’t look great.

In March 2020, Microsoft said Skype had 40 million daily active users, a number that’s since slipped to 36 million, according to a spokesperson. Microsoft’s newer Teams communication app, by contrast, is growing in popularity, rising from nearly 250 million monthly users in July 2021 to a record of over 300 million in the first quarter.

Jaan Tallinn, one of Skype’s founding engineers, said that although it’s been more than a decade since he left Skype, it’s still his default choice for calls.

“If people want to use some other channel, then I’m happy to comply,” he said.

It’s not clear how much longer Skype will exist, but it’s not going anywhere just yet.

“Skype will remain a great option for people who love it and want to connect via messaging, audio and video calling, and Bing Chat,” a Microsoft spokesperson wrote in an email.

Watch CNBC’s digital video above to learn more about the growth and struggles of 20-year-old Skype.

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AI is doing 30%-50% of the work at Salesforce, CEO Marc Benioff says

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AI is doing 30%-50% of the work at Salesforce, CEO Marc Benioff says

Marc Benioff, Chairman & CEO of Salesforce, speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box outside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 22nd, 2025.

Gerry Miller | CNBC

Salesforce is accelerating its use of artificial intelligence in automating workloads, according to CEO Marc Benioff.

“All of us have to get our head around this idea that AI could do things, that before, we were doing, and we can move on to do higher value work,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg’s Emily Chang, noting that the technology currently accounts for about 30% to 50% of the company’s work.

Technology companies are hunting for new ways to trim costs, boost efficiencies and transform their workforce with the help of AI.

The aftershocks have already hit the tech industry, with the software giant cutting over 1,000 positions earlier this year as it restructured around AI.

Read more CNBC reporting on AI

Other technology companies have made similar moves, including cybersecurity giant CrowdStrike.

Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said the company has shrunk its headcount by 40% due in part to AI investment, while Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the e-commerce giant will use AI to reduce roles.

Benioff called the rise of AI in the workforce a “digital labor revolution,” estimating that the software company has reached about 93% accuracy with the technology.

“It’s pretty good,” he said, but it’s not “realistic” to hit 100%. He added that other vendors are at “much lower levels because they don’t have as much data and metadata” to build higher accuracy.

WATCH: Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff: Data centers and chips are ‘commodities’

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff: Data centers and chips are 'commodities'

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Trump Organization scraps ‘made in the USA’ tag for its gold T1 smartphone

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Trump Organization scraps 'made in the USA' tag for its gold T1 smartphone

US President Donald Trump uses a cellphone aboard Marine One before it departs Leesburg Executive Airport in Leesburg, Virginia, on April 24, 2025. Trump is returning to the White House after attending a MAGA, Inc. dinner at the Trump National Golf Club Washington, DC.

Alex Wroblewski | AFP | Getty Images

The Trump Organization scrapped a reference that its recently revealed smartphone will be made in the U.S., amid doubts that such a device can be manufactured on American shores at its price tag.

A spokesperson for the Trump Organization, which is owned by U.S. President Donald Trump, nevertheless maintained the handset would be made in the U.S.

This month, the Trump Organization introduced the T1, a gold-colored device set to retail for $499. At the time of the announcement, a banner on the homepage of the company’s website said: “Our MADE IN THE USA ‘T1 Phone’ is available for pre-order now.”

The reference to where the phone will be produced has been completely removed. The change was first noted by The Verge.

The T1’s webpage now says the phone has “American-Proud Design” and is “brought to life right here in the USA” — though it’s unclear if that means it will actually be manufactured in America.

When the T1 was initially announced, experts told CNBC the device would likely be made in China by a local third-party company. The U.S. does not have an advanced supply chain to manufacture smartphones. Even if it did, many components would still need to come from overseas.

However, in a statement to USA TODAY, Trump Mobile Spokesperson Chris Walker, said that “T1 phones are proudly being made in America.”

“Speculation to the contrary is simply inaccurate,” Walker said.

The language about manufacturing location is not the only thing that has changed on the T1 website. Some of the features and specs of the device have also been updated.

In the initial announcement, the Trump Mobile website said the T1 would have a 6.8-inch AMOLED screen. That has now been reduced to 6.25-inch AMOLED display. A reference to the device having 12 gigabytes of random access memory (RAM), has also been dropped.

It’s an unusual move for a smartphone company to change the specs of a device after it has been announced.

CNBC has reached out to the Trump Organization about the changes in language regarding the device being manufactured in the U.S., as well as amendments to the phones specs.

Trump has made reshoring manufacturing in tech a key priority. While his initial attention was on getting semiconductor manufacturing capacity built up, the White House leader has turned his sights on smartphones. He has also poured scrutiny on Apple‘s supply chain, urging the iPhone maker to manufacture its flagship handset in the U.S. 

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Blacklisted by the U.S. and backed by Beijing, this Chinese AI startup has caught OpenAI’s attention

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Blacklisted by the U.S. and backed by Beijing, this Chinese AI startup has caught OpenAI's attention

The Zhipu AI logo is seen displayed on a smartphone screen.

Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

OpenAI is putting a spotlight on an under-the-radar artificial intelligence startup that it believes is on the “front line” of China’s race to lead the world in AI — and its not DeepSeek. 

In a blog post on Wednesday, the company wrote that Beijing-backed Zhipu AI has made “notable progress” in the AI race, as global competition ramps up.

Zhipu AI, founded in 2019, has been referred by domestic media as one of China’s “AI tigers” — a class of large language model unicorns seen as key to Beijing’s efforts to rival the U.S. and reduce its dependence on American technology

While fellow “AI tiger” DeepSeek has received the lion’s share of international attention after it released its R1 model in January, OpenAI suggests that Zhipu’s expansion outside China and its ties to Beijing deserve more scrutiny. 

The startup has raised funds from several local governments, according to state media. “Zhipu AI leadership frequently engages with CCP officials, including Premier Li Qiang,” OpenAI claimed, pegging the value of state-backed investments in the startup at over $1.4 billion.

Zhipu AI reportedly has offices in the Middle East, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Malaysia, and is also running joint “innovation centers” projects across Southeast Asia, including in Indonesia and Vietnam.

If all the AI developers are in China, the China stack is going to win, Nvidia CEO tells CNBC

Those factors could see Zhipu AI playing a key role in China’s “Digital Silk Road” strategy, as it offers AI infrastructure solutions to governments around the world.

“The goal is to lock Chinese systems and standards into emerging markets before US or European rivals can, while showcasing a ‘responsible, transparent and audit-ready’ Chinese AI alternative,” OpenAI said. 

Zhipu AI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on OpenAI’s statements. However, last week, Zhipu AI Chairman Liu Debing told reporters that the company hoped to contribute China’s AI power to the world.

These aims represent a threat to OpenAI, which has received Washington’s support to promote its foundational models as the world’s go-to AI offering.

During a visit to the UAE in May, U.S. President Donald Trump announced over $200 billion in commercial deals in the region, including one for building a Stargate UAE AI campus by OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia and Cisco Systems. It’s expected to be launched in 2026. 

The Stargate Project is a $500 billion AI-focused private sector investment vehicle, announced by OpenAI in January in partnership with Abu Dhabi investment firm MGX and Japan’s SoftBank.

This month, OpenAI was also awarded a $200 million contract to provide the U.S. Defense Department with artificial intelligence tools, and announced “OpenAI for Government,” an initiative aimed at bringing its AI tools to public servants across the U.S. 

Zhipu is also said to be working with its domestic military, helping China’s military to modernize through advanced artificial intelligence, which saw it added to the US Commerce Department’s Entity List in January.

The company has reportedly initiated preliminary steps toward launching an initial public offering. It has previously been valued at 20 billion yuan ($2.78 billion), according to local media reports.

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