GoKawiil
Tech News
Fast Company's AI Decoded newsletter examines Anthropic's investor pitch, noting that the company is presenting strong revenue growth projections to potential retail investors. The analysis points out that these projections are paired with heavy infrastructure spending commitments and no clear timeline for profitability.
Microsoft is offering voluntary exit packages to roughly 60,000 workers in the US, UK, Canada and India, a far larger rollout than the retirement offer limited to about 9,000 staff earlier this year. The move follows a 4,800-person layoff months earlier that hit Xbox and sales teams, and comes as Microsoft's headcount fell year over year for the first time in a decade, to about 223,000 as of June 30th.
In quarterly earnings, Microsoft lowered its fiscal-year capex guidance to $170 billion from $175 billion, while Alphabet kept its $195-205 billion range unchanged. Both companies cited supply delays from third-party GPU providers, with Microsoft CFO Amy Hood saying some capacity won't be available until the first half of 2027, and Alphabet's CFO noting outside computing power only came online late in the quarter.
Microsoft spent $45.2 billion on capital expenditures in the September quarter, below the $51.7 billion Wall Street expected, and trimmed its calendar 2026 spending forecast from $175 billion to $170 billion. CFO Amy Hood attributed the shortfall to delayed capacity deliveries from third-party partners rather than a pullback, with spending expected to accelerate once those facilities come online later in the fiscal year.
Microsoft reported net profit of more than $36.6bn and revenue of $92.3bn for the quarter ending September, a 19% year-on-year increase driven largely by 30% growth in its cloud business. The results came just days after the company said it would offer buyouts to around 60,000 employees as part of cost-cutting tied to heavy AI investment. Shares rose nearly 2.9% in after-hours trading following the announcement.
Oracle forecast $225 billion in revenue for fiscal 2030, implying 35% average annual growth, and said it will cap additional fundraising through that period at $20 billion, split evenly between debt and equity. The company told the SEC that vendor financing, customer-supplied hardware and prepayments should cut upfront cash needs as it moves toward positive free cash flow. Shares had fallen roughly a third this year on worries about Oracle's debt load amid its AI infrastructure spending spree.
Microsoft is offering a voluntary exit package to roughly a quarter of its global workforce, covering eligible employees at level 70 or below in the US, India, Canada and the UK. Chief People Officer Amy Coleman said eligible organizations were chosen based on each business's priorities, customer commitments and workforce needs. This follows an earlier 2026 retirement offer to 8,750 US employees in April and July layoffs of 3,200 Xbox staff.
A group of financial institutions including Blackstone has arranged $63 billion in financing to buy AI computing hardware from Broadcom, which will then be leased to Anthropic. The structure allows Anthropic to access large volumes of AI infrastructure without directly financing the purchase itself.
Microsoft announced a voluntary exit offer for eligible employees at experience level 70 or below in the U.S., Canada, India and the U.K., covering roughly 60,000 workers, or about 27% of its 223,000-person workforce. Employees must decide by December, with departures effective Dec. 31, and some marketing, sales and engineering teams reportedly opted out of participating.
Meta announced plans to raise $95 billion through equity offerings to fund its AI infrastructure and superintelligence efforts, starting with $35 billion in underwritten public equity followed by $60 billion via an at-the-market program. The funds will support AI initiatives including its apps, the Muse AI agent, and data center expansion, alongside operating cash flow, debt, and partnerships. Shares rose 1.6% in premarket trading following the news.
Meta Platforms said it intends to raise as much as $95 billion to support its large-scale investments in artificial-intelligence infrastructure, including efforts tied to what it calls personal superintelligence. The company did not detail the exact financing structure in the announcement.
Meta is launching roughly $35 billion in stock and convertible preferred securities this week, with a further $60 billion share-sale program planned once new nonvoting Class C shares begin trading in early 2027. The company says the fundraising will help finance its AI infrastructure expansion, including four superclusters each exceeding one gigawatt of capacity, as annual capital spending is now forecast at $135 billion to $145 billion. Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom have reportedly expressed interest in buying up to $5 billion of the shares combined.