Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told CNBC’s Jon Fortt on Monday that the governance structure of OpenAI needs to change, three days after the sudden firing of CEO Sam Altman.
“At this point, I think it’s very clear that something has to change around the governance,” Nadella said. He added that Microsoft would have “a good dialogue with their board on that.”
In his first press interview since Altman’s ouster, Nadella dismissed concerns of long-term damage at OpenAI and said that the critical artificial intelligence research continues as does the partnership with Microsoft. But his comments didn’t clear up confusion surrounding where Altman and fellow OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, who was the company’s chairman, will ultimately end up.
Early Monday morning Nadella said that Altman, Brockman and their colleagues would join Microsoft as part of a new AI research group. That post followed news that ex-Twitch CEO Emmett Shear had been named OpenAI interim head as Altman looked to depart. Over the course of Monday, it became less evident that Altman and Brockman would actually be joining Microsoft.
Hundreds of OpenAI employees signed a letter to the company’s board demanding that they resign or else the staffers may choose to leave and join their former boss at Microsoft.
Nadella said it’s the choice of OpenAI employees whether they stay in their current roles or move to Microsoft, adding that his company has what it needs to keep innovating on its own.
“I’m open to both options,” he said.
The rapid reinstatement of Altman began to look like a possibility on Saturday as news surfaced that a group of prominent investors, including Microsoft, Tiger Global, Thrive Capital and Sequoia Capital were working to reverse the board’s decision from a day earlier. None of those firms had board seats, and they were caught unaware by the decision.
In a post on X late Saturday night, Altman wrote, “i love the openai team so much.” Brockman, who quit the company after the board removed him as chairman alongside the ouster of Altman, reposted the comment with a heart symbol. Other OpenAI employees did the same.
Nadella told Fortt that Microsoft respects OpenAI’s nonprofit roots and shares its belief that AI needs to be developed and rolled out in a safe manner.
“We want to make sure that we’re dealing with not only the benefits of technology, but the unintended consequences of the technology from day one, as opposed to waiting for things to happen,” Nadella said.
The cybersecurity software provider said it expects fiscal first-quarter earnings to range between 64 cents and 66 cents per share, versus the average Factset estimate of 95 cents. CrowdStrike is projecting earnings for the year to range between $3.33 and $3.45 per share, excluding items. That fell short $4.42 expected by analysts polled by LSEG.
For the fiscal fourth quarter, CrowdStrike posted a net loss of $92.3 billion, or 37 cents per share, versus net income of $53.7 million, or 22 cents per share, in the year-ago period. The company also reported $21 million in costs from incident-related expenses and $49.9 million of tax expenses connected to acquisitions.
The company also said it anticipates another $73 million in expenses for the first quarter resulting from its July update that spurred a global information technology outage, grounded flights and disrupted businesses. CrowdStrike projects an additional $43 million in costs due to some deal packages offered in its wake.
The outage has also weighed on free cash flow margins, which CrowdStrike said on a conference call with analysts Tuesday it expects to return to 30% or more in fiscal 2027.
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Many on Wall Street expect headwinds from the July issue to start abating in the new fiscal year, with Bernstein’s Peter Weed expecting a pick up in CrowdStrike net retention rate in the new fiscal year.
“Although FY26 guidance marked a conservative start to the year, in our view, we expect management is setting the stage for a return to a beat-and-raise cadence we saw before the outage,” wrote JPMorgan’s Brian Essex.
CrowdStrike’s disappointing guidance offset better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results. The company posted adjusted earnings of $1.03 per share on $1.06 billion in revenue and said that revenue grew 25% from a year ago.
Founder and CEO George Kurtz called the company a “comeback story” on the conference call.
“I’m extremely proud of the engagement we’ve had with customers, partners, prospects in the market navigating a year that tested CrowdStrike,” he said. “Q4 showcases the fruits of our labors, giving me strong conviction in our AI-native, single platform, excellent execution, and accelerating market opportunity.”
A sign is posted in front of a One Medical office on July 21, 2022 in San Rafael, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
One Medical CEO Trent Green will step down from the Amazon-owned primary care provider after less than two years in the role.
Green is leaving One Medical to become CEO of National Research Corp., or NRC Health, a provider of health-care analytics and other services, the company said in a release Tuesday. He’ll start there on June 1.
Under Green, One Medical expanded into new geographic markets and opened more offices. It also integrated further into Amazon, with the company adding medical services to its Prime membership program.
Amazon confirmed Green’s departure in a statement.
“After nearly three years with Amazon One Medical, CEO Trent Green has decided to leave the company,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement. “We are grateful to Trent for his many contributions and wish him well on his next endeavor.”
Neil Lindsay, who leads Amazon Health Services, said in a memo to employees on Tuesday that Green is moving back to his home state of Nebraska for the new role. Green’s last day at Amazon will be April 4.
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“Trent has helped One Medical solidify its position as an incredible place for providers to deliver — and patients to turn to (and return for) — high-quality, human-centered care,” Lindsay wrote in the memo, which was obtained by CNBC.
The deal for One Medical is the third-largest acquisition in Amazon’s history, behind its 2017 purchase of Whole Foods for $13.7 billion and its $8.45 billion deal for MGM Studios in 2021.
Amazon acquired One Medical as part of a deepening push into the health-care market. The company scooped up online pharmacy PillPack in 2018 for about $750 million, before launching its own offering.
Apple on Wednesday announced new MacBook Air models that update the company’s bestselling laptop with a faster M4 chip and an upgraded videoconferencing camera.
The computers also got a $100 price cut in the U.S., despite tariffs by President Donald Trump that took effect on Tuesday that experts have said could cause the price of electronics to rise.
The 13-inch MacBook Air starts at $999, and the larger, 15-inch model starts at $1,099. Users can pay more for memory and storage upgrades.
Although it has the same design as last year’s MacBook Air, the new computer will also be available in a fresh sky blue color, and it now supports multiple external monitors. The new MacBook Air goes on sale March 12.
The MacBook Air is one of Apple’s most critical products. Mac sales rose 15% in the December quarter to just under $9 billion in sales. The company attributed that increase to higher sales of laptops even though overall Mac sales, which also include desktop models, are still down from the company’s fiscal 2022. That was a period when computer sales were elevated as a result of people needing laptops for work or school during the pandemic.
Apple’s MacBook Air announcement caps off a flurry of new product releases by the company over the past few weeks.
In addition to the new laptops, Apple on Wednesday announced a high-end Mac Studio desktop with a chip that can run advanced AI. The company also upgraded its iPad Air with an M4 chip on Tuesday, and last month, it announced the low-cost iPhone 16e.
The Mac Studio has more processing power and is designed for people who work on computer graphics, audio or video production or artificial intelligence. It’s not cheap — the computer starts at $1,999, and more powerful configurations can cost nearly $9,000.
Apple’s new Mac Studio costs $1999 or more.
Apple
Prices watched closely
The MacBook Air price cut comes as Apple’s U.S. pricing is being closely watched by both Apple customers and investors to see what the iPhone maker does in response to the Trump administration’s tariffs.
Apple’s announcement signals that the company isn’t jacking up prices yet.
The new iPad Airs announced this week didn’t see any price change and still start at $599. However, the iPhone 16e costs $599, and it replaced the older low-cost model from 2022 that started at $429.
Analysts at Bank of America Securities last month forecast that PC makers including Apple would likely try to pass increased costs onto buyers. Rival Acer already announced price increases on laptops last month due to U.S. tariffs.
“Tariffs on imported PCs act like a tax that PC vendors largely pass to end customers,” the BofA analysts wrote.
The majority of Apple’s products are made in China and could be affected by two sets of 10% tariffs Trump placed on Chinese imports. Apple’s operations and third-largest market could be affected by Chinese retaliation.
Apple CEO Tim Cook met with Trump at the White House last month. After the meeting, Trump said that Apple “doesn’t want to be in the tariffs.” Cook told investors in January that Apple is “monitoring the situation.”
Apple has expanded its supply chain in recent years. Some Macs are now assembled in Malaysia or Vietnam, production locations which would avoid Chinese import duties. Apple didn’t say where the new MacBook Airs are assembled.