AI
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Microsoft reports are exposing AI’s real cost problem: Using the tech is more expensive than paying human employees
Firms today are pushing employees to use as much AI as possible to squeeze out the technology’s productivity gains. But that pressure is leading to cracks, and those cracks may be irreparable. Microsoft has reportedly begun canceling most of its direct Claude Code licenses, according to The Verge, instead moving engineers toward using GitHub Copilot…
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Inside Microsoft’s high-stakes push to win back its AI lead
Good morning. Microsoft was once the undisputed front-runner of the generative AI boom, fueled by a $13 billion OpenAI bet. But that narrative has flipped, and so has the stock. “Microsoft lost its way in the AI race. Can Copilot get it back on course?” is a new Fortune feature article by Jeremy Kahn. He…
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Prakash Arunkundrum, HP’s first-ever chief strategy and transformation officer, bets edge AI will ‘bring the token cost down’
ChatGPT transformed AI from a niche, behind-the-scenes tool into one of the fastest-growing consumer products in history. That’s only accelerated this year, as use of tokens—the basic building blocks of any AI query—has exploded, thanks to widespread enterprise adoption and the rise of agentic AI platforms like OpenClaw. That’s caused surging AI costs in enterprises,…
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Cloudflare posted record revenue, then cut 20% of its workforce. CEO Matthew Prince says AI has made an entire category of workers obsolete
The prospect of AI-related layoffs has been the talk of Silicon Valley and Wall Street since ChatGPT launched its first AI model in late 2022. This year, a handful of tech companies are delivering on that promise. Cloudflare is one of the latest to do so. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Wednesday, Cloudflare…
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Meta laid off 10% of its workforce as Mark Zuckerberg warns that in the AI race ‘success isn’t a given’
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has hardened his tone on layoffs. Far from the red-eyed admission of fault he gave when Meta conducted some of its first mass layoffs in 2022, on Wednesday, Zuckerberg dismissed 8,000 workers, or about 10% of its workforce, with a detached-sounding memo that emphasized that “success isn’t a given” in the…
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McKinsey partner says up to 50% of work hours could be transformed within the next 5 years
In the past few years, AI tools have entered the rank-and-file mainstream—and now, being skilled with the tech is increasingly a prerequisite for employees. AI fluency is quickly becoming table stakes; Anu Madgavkar, a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute, predicts that up to half of professionals’ working lives could be transformed by advanced tech…
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Allbirds’ 600% stock surge says a lot about how ‘AI washing’ became the new ‘greenwashing’
Across corporate earnings calls, investor presentations and marketing pitches, “artificial intelligence” has become the buzzword of choice. Yet a troubling pattern lies under the hype. Many claims vastly overstate actual AI sophistication, misleading people about true capabilities, future outcomes and potential harms. A case in point is the recent 600% share price surge of Allbirds,…
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Nvidia gets tepid reaction to forecast, boosts investor rewards
Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company, delivered a sales forecast that drew a tepid reaction from investors, even as revenue from data center operators continued to surge. Sales in the three months ending in July will be $91 billion, the company said in a statement late Wednesday. Though analysts estimated $87 billion on average, projections…
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A senior comms exec says your AI notetaker could be your company’s biggest liability
They’ve become a staple of the virtual call. But the AI notetaker—the one you or a coworker uses to transcribe the call and highlight key points—could spell trouble for organizations. That’s according to Arielle Patrick, a managing partner at Upland Workshop, a strategic advisory firm. Patrick works with high-profile clients, many of whom she said…
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San Francisco thinks AI can save the whales. Here’s how
Ferries, cargo ships and tankers cut through choppy waters in the San Francisco Bay Tuesday as a whale surfaced nearby, its spout barely visible against the white caps. Until now, whales could easily go unnoticed by mariners, but an AI-powered detection network launched this week is designed to track them day and night. The system,…