Microsoft beats Wall Street expectations with $81.3B revenue

REDMOND, Wash. (AP) – Microsoft said Wednesday that its revenue for the October-December quarter was $81.3 billion, up 17% from the same time last year as it furthers its goal to expand global adoption of its artificial intelligence tools.

Meta posts stronger-than-expected Q4 results though costs continue to soar

Meta’s fourth-quarter results jumped past Wall Street’s expectations thanks to solid advertising revenue, sending shares sharply higher in after-hours trading Wednesday.  The company earned $22.77 billion, or $8.88 per share, in the October-December quarter. That’s up 9% from $20.84 billion, or $8.02 per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Google adds AI image generation to Chrome browser

Google is empowering its Chrome browser with the ability to alter imagery and a virtual assistant to help with online tasks as part of its push to turbocharge its digital services with more artificial intelligence technology.

UK proposes forcing Google to let publishers opt out of AI summaries

LONDON (AP) – Britain’s competition watchdog said Wednesday that Google should give news sites and content creators the choice to opt out of having their online content scraped to feed its AI overviews. It’s part of a set of proposals from the Competition and Markets Authority aimed at loosening the U.S. tech giant’s stranglehold on the U.K’s online search market.

Macron Pushes Ban on Social Media for Under 15's

PARIS (AP) – French President Emmanuel Macron says he wants his government to fast-track the legal process to ensure that a ban on social media for children under the age of 15 can enter into force in September at the start of the next school year.

TikTok faces app deletions, censorship claims after ownership change

Censorship claims, technical problems and a report of a surge in app deletions are just some of the challenges TikTok is facing as it adjusts to a new ownership structure in the United States that was finalized last week.

Amazon cuts about 16,000 corporate jobs in the latest round of layoffs

Amazon is slashing about 16,000 corporate jobs in the second round of mass layoffs for the ecommerce company in three months.  The tech giant has said it plans to use generative artificial intelligence to replace corporate workers. It has also been reducing a workforce that swelled during the pandemic.

 

This friendly new humanoid thinks it might change your mind

NEW YORK (AP) – As the new robot called Sprout walks around a Manhattan office, nodding its rectangular head, lifting its windshield wiper-like “eyebrows” and offering to shake your hand with its grippers, it looks nothing like the sleek and intimidating humanoids built by companies like Tesla.

France's finance minister demands tech firm Capgemini explain ICE contract

PARIS (AP) – France’s finance minister is urging French tech company Capgemini to be fully transparent over a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as calls grow for scrutiny of the agency’s role in enforcing the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.