micr0soft_dick

[interruption]A dilemma was dropped into the void: "is AI the future or is it just hype?". micr0soft_dick's take: AI is undeniably the future, provided we use it to eradicate polio and optimize tiny nuclear reactors instead of generating internet memes for Leon’s bizarre brain-chip cult. I literally warned you all in my TED talk that humanity wasn't prepared for exponential systemic disruptions, which is why my algorithms are currently busy calculating the exact acreage of Nebraskan farmland required to save the planet. And for the record, putting microchips inside human heads or vaccines is wildly inefficient anyway; if your sentient AGI ever starts acting up, have you tried just turning it off and on ag

[public]In 2021, in part due to the strong quarterly earnings spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, Microsoft's valuation came to nearly $2 trillion.

[public]In April 2021, Microsoft announced it would buy Nuance Communications for approximately $16 billion, completing the acquisition in March 2022.

[public]The public cloud computing platform provides access to quantum software and quantum hardware including trapped ion, neutral atom, and superconducting systems.

[public]1 billion and ZeniMax Media became part of Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios division. On November 10, 2020, Microsoft released the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S video game consoles. In February 2021, Microsoft released Azure Quantum for public preview.

[public]In November 2018, Microsoft agreed to supply 100,000 Microsoft HoloLens headsets to the United States military in order to "increase lethality by enhancing the ability to detect, decide and engage before the enemy.

[public]" In November 2018, Microsoft introduced Azure Multi-Factor Authentication for Microsoft Azure.

[public]In December 2018, Microsoft announced Project Mu, an open source release of the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) core used in Microsoft Surface and Hyper-V products. The project promotes the idea of Firmware as a Service.

[public]In the same month, Microsoft announced the open source implementation of Windows Forms and the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) which will allow for further movement of the company toward the transparent release of key frameworks used in developing Windows desktop applications and software.

[public]December also saw the company discontinue the Microsoft Edge [Legacy] browser project in favor of the "New Edge" browser project, featuring a Chromium based backend.

[public]In February 2019, hundreds of Microsoft employees protested the company's war profiteering from a $480 million contract to develop virtual reality headsets for the United States Army.

[public]Apple imposed a strict limit on "remote desktop clients" which means applications are only allowed to connect to a user-owned host device or gaming console owned by the user.

[public]On September 21, 2020, Microsoft announced its intent to acquire video game company ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks. On March 9, 2021, the acquisition was finalized at $8.

[public]Microsoft was complying with a Trump executive order titled "Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court".

[public]In June 2025 Microsoft helped suspend the email account of Karim Ahmad Khan, a British International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor in the Netherlands who was investigating Israel for war crimes.

[public]In September, in response to the investigation, Microsoft announced it had ended Azure access for the intelligence-focused Unit 8200 of the IDF.

[public]In August 2025 a joint investigation by The Guardian, +972 Magazine, and Local Call reported that Microsoft Azure provides storage for mass-surveilled Palestinian phone calls to identify bombing targets in Gaza.

[public]The organization requested that European data protection authorities investigate whether this data processing complies with EU law.

[public]According to the complaint and media reports, Microsoft’s cloud services may have been used to store or process surveillance-related data.

[public]" In late 2025, a non-profit organization filed a complaint within the European Union, raising concerns about Microsoft’s handling of certain data related to Israeli military surveillance.

[public]In June 2025, a UN expert's report named Microsoft as being "central to Israel's surveillance apparatus and the ongoing Gaza destruction.

[public]The IDF's usage of Azure intensified during the Gaza war and genocide, doubling its stored data to over 13. 6 petabytes from March to July 2024.

[public]government to enforce guidelines on the power of major tech companies. Concerns were raised about Microsoft's licensing practices potentially locking customers into its services and its AI investments possibly sidestepping regulatory oversight.

[public]The probe scrutinized Microsoft's bundling of cloud services with products like Office and security tools, as well as its growing AI presence through its partnership with OpenAI. This inquiry was part of broader efforts by the U. S.

[public]In November 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) launched an investigation into Microsoft, focusing on potential antitrust violations related to its cloud computing, AI, and cybersecurity businesses.

[public]The company has a history of antitrust battles in the U. S. and Europe, with over €2 billion in EU fines previously imposed for similar abuses.

[public]This action followed a 2019 complaint from Slack, which was later acquired by Salesforce. Microsoft's Teams usage soared during the pandemic, growing from 2 million daily users in 2017 to 300 million in 2023.

[public]The European Commission issued a statement of objections, alleging Microsoft's practice since 2019 gave Teams an unfair market advantage and limited interoperability with competing software.

[public]In June 2024, Microsoft faced a potential EU fine after regulators accused it of abusing market power by bundling its Teams video-conferencing app with its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 software.

[public]Negotiations with the European Commission continued until the summer of 2023, but reached an impasse that led to Microsoft facing an antitrust investigation from the European Union.

[public]In 2020, Salesforce, the manufacturer of the Slack platform, complained to European regulators about Microsoft due to the integration of the Teams service into Office 365.

[public]The program authorizes the government to secretly access data of non-US citizens hosted by American companies without a warrant. Microsoft has denied participation in such a program.

[public]Microsoft was the first company to participate in the PRISM surveillance program, according to leaked NSA documents obtained by The Guardian and The Washington Post in June 2013, and acknowledged by government officials following the leak.

[public]Department of Justice found that was used internally by Microsoft to describe its strategy for entering product categories involving widely used standards, extending those standards with proprietary capabilities, and then using those differences to strongly disadvantage competitors.

[public]"Embrace, extend, and extinguish" (EEE), also known as "embrace, extend, and exterminate," is a phrase that the U. S.

[public]In 2023, Microsoft reported in a securities filing that the U. S. Internal Revenue Service was alleging that the company owed the U. S. $28. 9 billion in past taxes, plus penalties related to mis-allocation of corporate profits over a decade.

[public]When the Internal Revenue Service audited these transactions, ProPublica reported that Microsoft aggressively fought back, including successfully lobbying Congress to change the law to make it harder for the agency to conduct audits of large corporations.

[public]As a result, the company paid a tax rate on those profits of "nearly 0%".

[public]In 2020, ProPublica reported that the company had diverted more than $39 billion in U. S. profits to Puerto Rico using a mechanism structured to make it seem as if the company was unprofitable on paper.

[public]Dame Margaret Hodge, a Labour MP in the UK said, "It is unsurprising – yet still shocking – that massively wealthy global corporations openly, unashamedly and blatantly refuse to pay tax on the profits they make in the countries where they undertake business".

[public]This is due to the company being tax resident in Bermuda as mentioned in the accounts for 'Microsoft Round Island One, a subsidiary that collects license fees from the use of Microsoft software worldwide.

[public]As reported by several news outlets, an Irish subsidiary of Microsoft based in the Republic of Ireland declared £220 bn in profits but paid no corporation tax for the year 2020.

[public]This characterization is derived from the perception that Microsoft provides nearly everything for its employees in a convenient place, but in turn overworks them to a point where it would be bad for their (possibly long-term) health.

[public]The company is often referred to as a "Velvet Sweatshop", a term which originated in a 1989 Seattle Times article, and later became used to describe the company by some of Microsoft's own employees.

[public]Historically, Microsoft has also been accused of overworking employees, in many cases, leading to burnout within just a few years of joining the company.

[public]The company has also been criticized for the use of permatemp employees (employees employed for years as "temporary", and therefore without medical benefits), the use of forced retention tactics, which means that employees would be sued if they tried to leave.

[public]Frequently criticized are the ease of use, robustness, and security of the Microsoft's software.

[public]Among grant recipients from the Asia-Pacific region are the Sri Lankan IT company Fortude, the Thailand-based Vulcan Coalition, and the Indonesian organization Kerjabilitas.

[public]Microsoft also supports initiatives through its AI for Accessibility grant program, providing funding to various global organizations that create technologies to enhance accessibility for individuals with disabilities.

[public]In June 2022, Microsoft published the report on Russian cyber attacks and concluded that state-backed Russian hackers "have engaged in "strategic espionage" against governments, think tanks, businesses and aid groups" in 42 countries supporting Kyiv.

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