Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella, speaks at the company's annual developer conference in Seattle, Washington. Microsoft's CEO, Satya Nadella, speaks at the company's annual developer conference in Seattle, Washington. Tech giant reports earnings of $3.72 per share day after deal with OpenAI pushed value of company to more than $4tn Microsoft blew off concerns of overspending on AI on Wednesday, reporting elevated earnings even as it faced an outage of its cloud computing service, Azure, and its office software suite, 365. The strong earnings report comes a day after a deal with OpenAI pushed the value of the tech giant to more than $4tn. After its Xbox and investor relations pages went down, the company issued a statement that said: "We are working to address an issue affecting Azure Front Door that is impacting the availability of some services."

In about two weeks, Google's annual developer conference will kick off on May 20. The event is probably the most important on the company's calendar, offering a glimpse at everything it has been working on over the past year. Judging from rumors and information Google has trickled out, I/O 2025 should be one of the more exciting tech keynotes in recent memory. Plus, for the first time, Google has spun out a dedicated Android showcase planned a whole week earlier. If you want to know what to expect from the company later this month, read on.

In a couple of weeks, Google's annual developer conference will kick off on May 20. The event is probably the most important on the company's calendar, offering a glimpse at everything it has been working on over the past year. Judging from rumors and information Google has trickled out, I/O 2025 should be one of the more exciting tech keynotes in recent memory. Plus, this year Google has a dedicated Android showcase planned a whole week earlier. If you want to know what to expect from the company later this month, read on.

AI has enormous promise for improving and enriching our lives. However, serious concerns exist about its use, intrusion, and abuse. The Google AI arm revealed a variety of artificial intelligence projects it was working on, including one focused on preventing blindness. At its annual developer conference, Google unveiled 12 new AI project categories, some of which could lead to improved healthcare, others that could be used for creative purposes, and others that might be fun to play with. Google's new wildfire tracking feature is now available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and some parts of Australia.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic putting large gatherings on hold, Microsoft Build – the technology giant's annual developer conference – went ahead this week, albeit virtually. The company announced numerous new features for the future of its operating system, Windows 10, including a search-bar similar to Spotlight on Apple's computers and "Fluid Office" – a competitor to Google's suite of online office applications such as Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Fluid Office is currently available as a preview, and works akin to a version of Microsoft Office content that exists on the web. This contrasts from typical online services in a number of ways. Google Docs, and to a lesser extent Apple's Pages, let users create a document or table that can be shared in its totality quickly and easily via a link or through downloading the file.

"Privacy cannot be a luxury good offered only to people who can afford to buy premium products and services," declared Sundar Pichai, the chief executive officer of Google, in a New York Times op-ed this week. "Privacy must be equally available to everyone in the world." Pichai's column, published in conjunction with Google's annual developer conference, was a two-pronged public relations offensive: an attempt by the company that has been one of the chief architects and primary beneficiaries of digital surveillance to wrap itself in the mantle of privacy, while simultaneously taking a swipe at one of its competitors. In Silicon Valley, "privacy" is in 2019 what reclaimed wood was in 2010: a must-have design feature that signals a certain degree of authenticity and hipness and could also double as a weapon in a pinch. Pichai's broadside, in case you're not attuned to the subtleties of tech CEO shade, was aimed at Apple.

Though not one to give much away, Apple's voice assistant Siri has hinted she may be undergoing a major upgrade ahead of the technology company's annual developer conference. Australian site the Apple Post noted that if a user asks Siri about WWDC, she won't provide any useful information but will instead drop cryptic hints.

The number one benefit of information technology is that it empowers people to do what they want to do. It lets people be creative. It lets people be productive. It lets people learn things they didn't think they could learn before, and so in a sense it is all about potential. Microsoft new focus would be Intelligent edge, not Windows.

Google is working on technology it's calling Google Duplex that will use artificial intelligence to call businesses to make appointments and other tedious calls. In two demonstrations, one setting up a hair appointment and another a restaurant reservation, a realistic-sounding automated voice used pauses and "ums" and "mmm-hmms" to sound more human during interactions with people. "Hi, I'm calling to book hair appointment for a client," the AI voice said in the demo and then negotiated a time and date for the appointment. At its annual developers conference Tuesday, Google emphasized the technology is still in development and rolling out as "an experiment" in coming weeks. "We really want to work hard to get this right," CEO Sundar Pichai said.

At the annual developers conference, Apple announced the voice recognition software will have a more "natural" tone. A link has been sent to your friend's email address. A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. At the annual developers conference, Apple announced the voice recognition software will have a more "natural" tone.