Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, right, speaks as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman looks on during the OpenAI DevDay event in San Francisco on Nov. 6, 2023.
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Microsoft‘s massive investment in OpenAI is weighing on earnings.
Following Microsoft’s quarterly earnings report on Wednesday, CFO Amy Hood said she expects the company to take a $1.5 billion hit to income in the current period, mainly because of an expected loss from OpenAI.
Microsoft has invested close to $14 billion in OpenAI, whose ChatGPT assistant has gone viral and inspired a whole new industry called generative artificial intelligence. The trend has generated billions of dollars in new revenue for Microsoft.
But OpenAI is losing bundles of cash. The company expects $5 billion in losses this year, before stock-based compensation, on $4 billion in revenue, The Information reported earlier this month, citing documents.
Hood said that for Microsoft, the loss is accounted for under the equity method. The accounting approach refers to a company’s share of the invested company’s profit or loss in a given period, a Microsoft spokesperson said.
The additional detail is “not due to a change in our partnership or investment in OpenAI,” the spokesperson said in an email. “Our partnership with OpenAI continues to deliver results, as we build differentiated IP and drive revenue momentum.”
The earnings call came after Microsoft reported an earnings and revenue beat for the fiscal first quarter. However, the stock slid in extended trading after the company’s forecast called for slower-than-expected growth.
While OpenAI is a central part of Microsoft’s growth strategy, the company has been hedging its bets after integrating OpenAI’s models into several products and acting as the startup’s exclusive cloud infrastructure provider. On Tuesday, Microsoft’s GitHub subsidiary said it would allow developers to power the Copilot Chat feature with models from Google or startup Anthropic instead of OpenAI’s GPT-4o.
In addition to the $13 billion Microsoft had invested in OpenAI as of Sept. 30, the company put in another $750 million in a funding round announced in October, which valued OpenAI at $157 billion.
Microsoft rivals are playing a similar game. Amazon, most notably, has invested $4 billion in AI model company Anthropic, whose founders previously worked at OpenAI. Amazon reports earnings on Thursday.
The OpenAI investment disclosure was new for Microsoft, but the company has registered over $2.3 billion in other expense in the past four quarters. That number has factored in the investment in OpenAI, the spokesperson said.
On the earnings call, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the collaboration with OpenAI has benefited both parties and that the company feels good about “our investment stake in OpenAI.”
OpenAI didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Google announced Monday the removal of nearly 11,000 YouTube channels and other accounts tied to state-linked propaganda campaigns from China, Russia and more in the second quarter.
The takedown included more than 7,700 YouTube channels linked to China.
These campaigns primarily shared content in Chinese and English that promoted the People’s Republic of China, supported President Xi Jinping and commented on U.S. foreign affairs.
Over 2,000 removed channels were linked to Russia. The content was in multiple languages that supported Russia and criticized Ukraine, NATO and the West.
Google, in May, removed 20 YouTube channels, 4 Ads accounts, and 1 Blogger blog linked to RT, the Russian state-controlled media outlet accused of paying prominent conservative influencers for social media content ahead of the 2024 election.
Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson — all staunch supporters of President Donald Trump — made content for Tenent Media, the Tennessee company described in the indictment, according to NBC News.
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YouTube began blocking RT channels in March 2022, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine.
The active removal of accounts is part of the Google Threat Analysis Group’s work to counter global disinformation campaigns and “coordinated influence” operations.
Google’s second quarter report also outlined the removal of influence campaigns linked to Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, Israel, Romania and Ghana that were found to be targeting political rivals.
Some campaigns centered on growing geopolitical conflicts, including narratives on both sides of the Israel-Palestine War.
CNBC has reached out to YouTube for further comment or information on the report.
Google took down more than 23,000 accounts in the first quarter.
Meta announced last week it removed about 10 million profiles for impersonating large content producers through the first half of 2025 as part of an effort by the company to combat “spammy content.”
Chris Martin of Coldplay performs live at San Siro Stadium, Milan, Italy, in July 2017.
Mairo Cinquetti | NurPhoto | Getty Images
Astronomer‘s interim CEO said in his first public comment since unexpectedly taking over the role on Saturday that he hopes to move the tech startup past the viral moment that captured national attention last week.
Pete DeJoy was appointed to the top job due to the resignation of CEO Andy Byron, days after he was caught on video in an intimate moment with the company’s head of human resources at a Coldplay concert. Astronomer said over the weekend that it would begin a search for a new CEO.
“The events of the past few days have received a level of media attention that few companies — let alone startups in our small corner of the data and AI world — ever encounter,” DeJoy wrote in a LinkedIn post on Monday. “The spotlight has been unusual and surreal for our team and, while I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name.”
Byron was shown on a big screen at the concert in Boston on Wednesday with his arms around Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot. Byron, who is married with children, immediately hid when the couple was shown on screen. Lead singer Chris Martin said, “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.” A concert attendee’s video of the affair went viral.
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DeJoy helped start Astronomer in 2017, according to his LinkedIn profile, and had been serving as chief product officer since earlier this year.
In May, Astronomer announced a $93 million investment round led by Bain Ventures and other investors, including Salesforce Ventures.
“I’m stepping into this role with a wholehearted commitment to taking care of our people and delivering for our customers,” DeJoy wrote. He added that “our story is very much still being written.”
Astronomer is commercializing the open-source data operations platform Astro. DeJoy wrote that customers “trust us with their most ambitious data & AI projects” and that “we’re here because the mission is bigger than any one moment.”
Dylan Field, co-founder and CEO of Figma Inc., after the morning sessions at the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 11, 2024.
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Design software company Figma on Monday published an updated prospectus for its initial public offering.
The company said it expects to sell about 37 million shares at $25 to $28 each. That would generate as much as $1 billion in proceeds, between the company and selling shareholders.
The IPO could value Figma, led by co-founder Dylan Field, a fully diluted valuation of $14.6 billion to $16.4 billion. Field plans to sell 2.35 million shares, which could be worth as much as $65.8 million.
In a 2024 tender offer, investors valued the company at $12.5 billion. In 2022, Adobe had agreed to acquire Figma for $20 billion, but the deal was scrapped after regulators objected.
The flow of technology companies joining U.S. exchanges has slowed since late 2021. Concerns over inflation and a recession made some investors less interested in backing fast-growing but money-losing companies.
But a few technology stocks have become available in recent months. CoreWeave went public in March, and Circle and Chime shares started trading in June.
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Figma filed to go public on July 1, announcing plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FIG.”
On Monday, it provided preliminary results for the second quarter, showing $9.0 million to $12.0 million in operating income on $247 million to $250 million in revenue. That would imply year-over-year revenue growth of 39% at the low end and 41% at the high end. Growth in the first quarter exceeded 46%.
During the second quarter, Figma added clients and expanded business with existing ones. The company’s operating margin would be ticking up to 4% to 5%, up from 3% in the same quarter a year ago, based on the preliminary results.
Figma said it has authorized the issuance of “blockchain common stock” in the form of “blockchain-based tokens.” So far, though, Figma said it isn’t planning to issue this type of stock. In July, Figma disclosed investments in a stablecoin and a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.
Mike Krieger, a co-founder of Instagram who is now chief product officer of artificial intelligence model developer Anthropic, has joined the board. Luis von Ahn, co-founder and CEO of Duolingo, is also joining the board, according to the filing.