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New data shows U.S. tech sector layoff announcements rose in September, led by cuts at Uber Technologies, PayPal and Microsoft, even as overall U.S. layoff announcements declined for the month. Total tech industry job cuts for the year so far stand at 165,925.
Ryan Roslansky, who has led LinkedIn since 2020 and took on oversight of Microsoft 365's Copilot strategy last year, announced he is leaving the company. In an internal memo, he said the decision stemmed from a need to be based full-time in Redmond, while his family remains in the Bay Area. He credited CEO Satya Nadella and his teams for LinkedIn surpassing a billion members and nearly tripling its business during his tenure.
Satya Nadella presented a redesigned Copilot at an invite-only event for enterprise customers, describing it as an 'OS for work.' Microsoft has merged its consumer and enterprise Copilot apps into one interface, adding coding capabilities, an agent called Autopilot, and deeper Office integration, replacing the earlier consumer design shaped by Inflection AI's Pi assistant.
Microsoft is holding a Windows and Surface event in San Francisco focused on local AI's role in future PCs, with CEO Satya Nadella and Windows chief Pavan Davuluri speaking. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is also expected to attend, fueling speculation that Microsoft will launch the Surface Laptop Ultra, a 15-inch model powered by Nvidia's RTX Spark chip first teased at Computex.
Microsoft has turned on its Windows settings backup and restore tool by default for Microsoft Entra-joined and Entra hybrid-joined enterprise devices upgraded to Windows 11 26H2, released September 29. The feature, previously opt-in since its 2024 unveiling and general availability in August 2025, now backs up settings and app lists automatically unless an admin has already configured the policy. Restore still requires explicit admin setup, and the default-on change excludes devices in DMA-regulated regions or sovereign/restricted cloud environments.
In an interview with The New York Times, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma stated plainly that 'Xbox is not for sale,' adding that Microsoft will pursue whatever partnerships or operating model changes are needed for long-term success. The comments follow a summer of heavy layoffs across Xbox, including the closure of Ninja Theory, the divestment of Double Fine, and the shutdown of Halo Studios with the franchise handed to Call of Duty's team.
Microsoft reports that attackers have been actively exploiting a critical unauthenticated command-injection vulnerability in the Zimbra Collaboration Suite, tracked as CVE-2026-73570, to access and exfiltrate email and credential data. Synacor patched the flaw on July 20 but did not publicly disclose it for over three weeks, and the Shadowserver Foundation found 274 compromised instances among roughly 10,000 servers still running the software. Microsoft observed attackers scanning for vulnerable servers, confirming exploitation, then deploying web shells, reverse shells, and persistence tools before accessing and archiving mailbox data for transfer.
Microsoft has made its Disc to Digital feature available to every Xbox Series X and Xbox One owner, letting them convert eligible physical game discs into digital licenses tied to their profile. Players can then install and run those games without inserting the disc, though not all titles qualify and eligibility can shift due to licensing or publishing changes. Microsoft says losing, selling, or giving away the qualifying disc can limit or revoke the digital license.
Microsoft researchers say the Russian state-linked group Star Blizzard is using a new technique called RedFlick to deploy its CosmicPulse backdoor. The chain starts with phishing emails leading victims to open a VHDX virtual disk containing a disguised LNK file, which triggers hidden commands, a decoy PDF, and an MSI installer that sets up three scheduled tasks to reconnoiter the system and fetch further payloads, including a downloader called NOROBOT/BAITSWITCH that ultimately installs CosmicPulse.
Microsoft has expanded its disc-to-digital licensing program beyond Xbox Insiders to all users, letting owners of physical Xbox Series X and Xbox One games convert them into digital licenses. Players simply insert a disc while signed in, and a pop-up confirms when a digital license has been created for that title. The feature does not yet support Xbox 360 or original Xbox discs, and Microsoft has not specified how many current-gen titles qualify.
Microsoft Threat Intelligence reported on Sept. 29 that Russia-linked APT group Star Blizzard has replaced its ClickFix social-engineering technique with a new malware delivery method called RedFlick. The group, also known as ColdRiver or Callisto, has used RedFlick since January to install its CosmicPulse backdoor via scheduled tasks, requiring only a single victim interaction instead of multiple steps.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma told the New York Times that Microsoft is not selling Xbox, pushing back on earlier reports that CEO Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood had weighed spinning off the gaming unit. Instead, Sharma says leadership backs her restructuring plan, which includes cutting up to 3,200 jobs by mid-2027, moving Halo and other studios under Activision, and streamlining Xbox Game Studios.