Microsoft CFO hypes up AI agents in an internal memo about Q3 earnings
As Microsoft reported third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, chief financial officer Amy Hood's quarterly internal message to employees reflected on the company's 50th anniversary and touted recent AI agents as an example of what's to come.
Hood sends the emails quarterly when Microsoft reports earnings, and they mostly rehash the public financial reports.
"Celebrating our 50th anniversary earlier this month was a significant milestone, and I really enjoyed reminiscing about pivotal (or just funny) moments from those years with so many former and current employees — but what excites me most is still what's ahead," Hood wrote in a memo to staff, which was viewed by Business Insider.
Hood hyped the company's recent release of two AI agents called Researcher and Analyst, built on OpenAI models and used in Microsoft 365 to analyze work data, as a "glimpse of what's ahead."
"Each week the bar seems to be raised on what's possible," Hood wrote. "With that, new tools and capabilities are arriving fast, and I find myself asking almost daily if there is a better way to approach my work. These innovations are pushing each of us to think differently, work differently — and I hope they inspire all of us to lean in and try something new."
Microsoft's stock rose 6% in after-hours trading after the company released a third-quarter financial report that beat analyst expectations.
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Atlantic
32 minutes ago
- Atlantic
OpenAI Can Stop Pretending
OpenAI is a strange company for strange times. Valued at $300 billion—roughly the same as seven Fords or one and a half PepsiCos—the AI start-up has an era-defining product in ChatGPT and is racing to be the first to build superintelligent machines. The company is also, to the apparent frustration of its CEO Sam Altman, beholden to its nonprofit status. When OpenAI was founded in 2015, it was meant to be a research lab that would work toward the goal of AI that is 'safe' and 'benefits all of humanity.' There wasn't supposed to be any pressure—or desire, really—to make money. Later, in 2019, OpenAI created a for-profit subsidiary to better attract investors—the types of people who might otherwise turn to the less scrupulous corporations that dot Silicon Valley. But even then, that part of the organization was under the nonprofit side's control. At the time, it had released no consumer products and capped how much money its investors could make. Then came ChatGPT. OpenAI's leadership had intended for the bot to provide insight into how people would use AI without any particular hope for widespread adoption. But ChatGPT became a hit, kicking 'off a growth curve like nothing we have ever seen,' as Altman wrote in an essay this past January. The product was so alluring that the entire tech industry seemed to pivot overnight into an AI arms race. Now, two and a half years since the chatbot's release, Altman says some half a billion people use the program each week, and he is chasing that success with new features and products—for shopping, coding, health care, finance, and seemingly any other industry imaginable. OpenAI is behaving like a typical business, because its rivals are typical businesses, and massive ones at that: Google and Meta, among others. Now 2015 feels like a very long time ago, and the charitable origins have turned into a ball and chain for OpenAI. Last December, after facing concerns from potential investors that pouring money into the company wouldn't pay off because of the nonprofit mission and complicated governance structure, the organization announced plans to change that: OpenAI was seeking to transition to a for-profit. The company argued that this was necessary to meet the tremendous costs of building advanced AI models. A nonprofit arm would still exist, though it would separately pursue 'charitable initiatives'—and it would not have any say over the actions of the for-profit, which would convert into a public-benefit corporation, or PBC. Corporate backers appeared satisfied: In March, the Japanese firm Softbank conditioned billions of dollars in investments on OpenAI changing its structure. Resistance came as swiftly as the new funding. Elon Musk—a co-founder of OpenAI who has since created his own rival firm, xAI, and seems to take every opportunity to undermine Altman— wrote on X that OpenAI 'was funded as an open source, nonprofit, but has become a closed source, profit-maximizer.' He had already sued the company for abandoning its founding mission in favor of financial gain, and claimed that the December proposal was further proof. Many unlikely allies emerged soon after. Attorneys general in multiple states, nonprofit groups, former OpenAI employees, outside AI experts, economists, lawyers, and three Nobel laureates all have raised concerns about the pivot, even petitioning to submit briefs to Musk's lawsuit. OpenAI backtracked, announcing a new plan earlier this month that would have the nonprofit remain in charge. Steve Sharpe, a spokesperson for OpenAI, told me over email that the new proposed structure 'puts us on the best path to' build a technology 'that could become one of the most powerful and beneficial tools in human history.' (The Atlantic entered into a corporate partnership with OpenAI in 2024.) Yet OpenAI's pursuit of industry-wide dominance shows no real signs of having hit a roadblock. The company has a close relationship with the Trump administration and is leading perhaps the biggest AI infrastructure buildout in history. Just this month, OpenAI announced a partnership with the United Arab Emirates and an expansion into personal gadgets—a forthcoming ' family of devices ' developed with Jony Ive, former chief design officer at Apple. For-profit or not, the future of AI still appears to be very much in Altman's hands. Why all the worry about corporate structure anyway? Governance, boardroom processes, legal arcana—these things are not what sci-fi dreams are made of. Yet those concerned with the societal dangers that generative AI, and thus OpenAI, pose feel these matters are of profound importance. The still more powerful artificial 'general' intelligence, or AGI, that OpenAI and its competitors are chasing could theoretically cause mass unemployment, worsen the spread of misinformation, and violate all sorts of privacy laws. In the highest-flung doomsday scenarios, the technology brings about civilizational collapse. Altman has expressed these concerns himself—and so OpenAI's 2019 structure, which gave the nonprofit final say over the for-profit's actions, was meant to guide the company toward building the technology responsibly instead of rushing to release new AI products, sell subscriptions, and stay ahead of competitors. 'OpenAI's nonprofit mission, together with the legal structures committing it to that mission, were a big part of my decision to join and remain at the company,' Jacob Hilton, a former OpenAI employee who contributed to ChatGPT, among other projects, told me. In April, Hilton and a number of his former colleagues, represented by the Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig, wrote a letter to the court hearing Musk's lawsuit, arguing that a large part of OpenAI's success depended on its commitment to safety and the benefit of humanity. To renege on, or at least minimize, that mission was a betrayal. The concerns extend well beyond former employees. Geoffrey Hinton, a computer scientist at the University of Toronto who last year received a Nobel Prize for his AI research, told me that OpenAI's original structure would better help 'prevent a super intelligent AI from ever wanting to take over.' Hinton is one of the Nobel laureates who has publicly opposed the tech company's for-profit shift, alongside the economists Joseph Stiglitz and Oliver Hart. The three academics, joining a number of influential lawyers, economists, and AI experts, in addition to several former OpenAI employees, including Hilton, signed an open letter in April urging the attorneys general in Delaware and California—where the company's nonprofit was incorporated and where the company is headquartered, respectively—to closely investigate the December proposal. According to its most recent tax filing, OpenAI is intended to build AGI 'that safely benefits humanity, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return,' so disempowering the nonprofit seemed, to the signatories, self-evidently contradictory. In its initial proposal to transition to a for-profit, OpenAI still would have had some accountability as a public-benefit corporation: A PBC legally has to try to make profits for shareholders alongside pursuing a designated 'public benefit' (in this case, building 'safe' and 'beneficial' AI as outlined in OpenAI's founding mission). In its December announcement, OpenAI described the restructure as 'the next step in our mission.' But Michael Dorff, another signatory to the open letter and a law professor at UCLA who studies public-benefit corporations, explained to me that PBCs aren't necessarily an effective way to bring about public good. 'They are not great enforcement tools,' he said—they can 'nudge' a company toward a given cause but do not give regulators much authority over that commitment. (Anthropic and xAI, two of OpenAI's main competitors, are also public-benefit corporations.) OpenAI's proposed conversion also raised a whole other issue—a precedent for taking resources accrued under charitable intentions and repurposing them for profitable pursuits. And so yet another coalition, composed of nonprofits and advocacy groups, wrote its own petition for OpenAI's plans to be investigated, with the aim of preventing charitable organizations from being leveraged for financial gain in the future. Regulators, it turned out, were already watching. Three days after OpenAI's December announcement of the plans to revoke nonprofit oversight, Kathy Jennings, the attorney general of Delaware, notified the court presiding over Musk's lawsuit that her office was reviewing the proposed restructure to ensure that the corporation was fulfilling its charitable interest to build AI that benefits all of humanity. California's attorney general, Rob Bonta, was reviewing the restructure, as well. This ultimately led OpenAI to change plans. 'We made the decision for the nonprofit to stay in control after hearing from civic leaders and having discussions with the offices of the Attorneys General of California and Delaware,' Altman wrote in a letter to OpenAI employees earlier this month. The for-profit, meanwhile, will still transition to a PBC. The new plan is not yet a done deal: The offices of the attorneys general told me that they are reviewing the new proposal. Microsoft, OpenAI's closest corporate partner, has not yet agreed to the new structure. One could be forgiven for wondering what all the drama is for. Amid tension over OpenAI's corporate structure, the organization's corporate development hasn't so much as flinched. In just the past few weeks, the company has announced a new CEO of applications, someone to directly oversee and expand business operations; OpenAI for Countries, an initiative focused on building AI infrastructure around the world; and Codex, a powerful AI 'agent' that does coding tasks. To OpenAI, these endeavors legitimately contribute to benefiting humanity: building more and more useful AI tools; bringing those tools and the necessary infrastructure to run them to people around the world; drastically increasing the productivity of software engineers. No matter OpenAI's ultimate aims, in a race against Google and Meta, some commercial moves are necessary to stay ahead. And enriching OpenAI's investors and improving people's lives are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The greater issue is this: There is no universal definition for 'safe' or 'beneficial' AI. A chatbot might help doctors process paperwork faster and help a student float through high school without learning a thing; an AI research assistant could help climate scientists arrive at novel insights while also consuming huge amounts of water and fossil fuels. Whatever definition OpenAI applies will be largely determined by its board. Altman, in his May letter to employees, contended that OpenAI is on the best path 'to continue to make rapid, safe progress and to put great AI in the hands of everyone.' But everyone, in this case, has to trust OpenAI's definition of safe progress. The nonprofit has not always been the most effective check on the company. In 2023, the nonprofit board—which then and now had 'control' over the for-profit subsidiary— removed Altman from his position as CEO. But the company's employees revolted, and he was reinstated shortly thereafter with the support of Microsoft. In other words, 'control' on paper does not always amount to much in reality. Sharpe, the OpenAI spokesperson, said the nonprofit will be able to appoint and remove directors to OpenAI's separate for-profit board, but declined to clarify whether its board will be able to remove executives (such as the CEO). The company is 'continuing to work through the specific governance mandate in consultation with relevant stakeholders,' he said. Sharpe also told me that OpenAI will remove the cap on shareholder returns, which he said will satisfy the conditions for SoftBank's billions of dollars in investment. A top SoftBank executive has said 'nothing has really changed' with OpenAI's restructure, despite the nonprofit retaining control. If investors are now satisfied, the underlying legal structure is irrelevant. Marc Toberoff, a lawyer representing Musk in his lawsuit against OpenAI, wrote in a statement that 'SoftBank pulled back the curtain on OpenAI's corporate theater and said the quiet part out loud. OpenAI's recent 'restructuring' proposal is nothing but window dressing.' Lessig, the lawyer who represented the former OpenAI employees, told me that 'it's outrageous that we are allowing the development of this potentially catastrophic technology with nobody at any level doing any effective oversight of it.' Two years ago, Altman, in Senate testimony, seemed to agree with that notion: He told lawmakers that 'regulatory intervention by governments will be critical to mitigate the risks' of powerful AI. But earlier this month, only a few days after writing to his employees and investors that 'as AI accelerates, our commitment to safety grows stronger,' he told the Senate something else: Too much regulation would be 'disastrous' for America's AI industry. Perhaps—but it might also be in the best interests of humanity.
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Shoe Carnival (NASDAQ:SCVL) Reports Sales Below Analyst Estimates In Q1 Earnings, But Stock Soars 11.2%
Footwear retailer Shoe Carnival (NASDAQ:SCVL) missed Wall Street's revenue expectations in Q1 CY2025, with sales falling 7.5% year on year to $277.7 million. On the other hand, the company's full-year revenue guidance of $1.19 billion at the midpoint came in 1.9% above analysts' estimates. Its GAAP profit of $0.34 per share was 47.8% above analysts' consensus estimates. Is now the time to buy Shoe Carnival? Find out in our full research report. Revenue: $277.7 million vs analyst estimates of $282.5 million (7.5% year-on-year decline, 1.7% miss) EPS (GAAP): $0.34 vs analyst estimates of $0.23 (47.8% beat) Adjusted EBITDA: $12.05 million vs analyst estimates of $15.3 million (4.3% margin, 21.3% miss) The company reconfirmed its revenue guidance for the full year of $1.19 billion at the midpoint EPS (GAAP) guidance for the full year is $1.85 at the midpoint, beating analyst estimates by 3.9% Operating Margin: 4.3%, down from 7.7% in the same quarter last year Free Cash Flow was -$22.98 million, down from $6.87 million in the same quarter last year Same-Store Sales fell 8.1% year on year (-3.4% in the same quarter last year) Market Capitalization: $504 million 'Our first quarter results reflect the continued success of our strategic transformation, with profits outperforming expectations by approximately 10 percent despite the challenging macroeconomic and retail environment,' said Mark Worden, President and Chief Executive Officer. Known for its playful atmosphere that features carnival elements, Shoe Carnival (NASDAQ:SCVL) is a retailer that sells footwear from mainstream brands for the entire family. Examining a company's long-term performance can provide clues about its quality. Any business can experience short-term success, but top-performing ones enjoy sustained growth for years. With $1.18 billion in revenue over the past 12 months, Shoe Carnival is a small retailer, which sometimes brings disadvantages compared to larger competitors benefiting from economies of scale and negotiating leverage with suppliers. As you can see below, Shoe Carnival grew its sales at a sluggish 2.4% compounded annual growth rate over the last six years (we compare to 2019 to normalize for COVID-19 impacts). This quarter, Shoe Carnival missed Wall Street's estimates and reported a rather uninspiring 7.5% year-on-year revenue decline, generating $277.7 million of revenue. Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to remain flat over the next 12 months, a slight deceleration versus the last six years. This projection is underwhelming and suggests its products will face some demand challenges. Here at StockStory, we certainly understand the potential of thematic investing. Diverse winners from Microsoft (MSFT) to Alphabet (GOOG), Coca-Cola (KO) to Monster Beverage (MNST) could all have been identified as promising growth stories with a megatrend driving the growth. So, in that spirit, we've identified a relatively under-the-radar profitable growth stock benefiting from the rise of AI, available to you FREE via this link. A retailer's store count influences how much it can sell and how quickly revenue can grow. Shoe Carnival opened new stores at a rapid clip over the last two years, averaging 4.9% annual growth, much faster than the broader consumer retail sector. This gives it a chance to scale into a mid-sized business over time. When a retailer opens new stores, it usually means it's investing for growth because demand is greater than supply, especially in areas where consumers may not have a store within reasonable driving distance. Note that Shoe Carnival reports its store count intermittently, so some data points are missing in the chart below. A company's store base only paints one part of the picture. When demand is high, it makes sense to open more. But when demand is low, it's prudent to close some locations and use the money in other ways. Same-store sales gives us insight into this topic because it measures organic growth for a retailer's e-commerce platform and brick-and-mortar shops that have existed for at least a year. Shoe Carnival's demand has been shrinking over the last two years as its same-store sales have averaged 5.9% annual declines. This performance is concerning - it shows Shoe Carnival artificially boosts its revenue by building new stores. We'd like to see a company's same-store sales rise before it takes on the costly, capital-intensive endeavor of expanding its store base. In the latest quarter, Shoe Carnival's same-store sales fell by 8.1% year on year. This decrease represents a further deceleration from its historical levels. We hope the business can get back on track. We were impressed by how significantly Shoe Carnival blew past analysts' EPS expectations this quarter. We were also glad its full-year revenue and EPS guidance exceeded Wall Street's estimates. On the other hand, its revenue and EBITDA fell short. Overall, this print was mixed but still had some key positives. The stock traded up 11.2% to $20.54 immediately after reporting. Is Shoe Carnival an attractive investment opportunity at the current price? What happened in the latest quarter matters, but not as much as longer-term business quality and valuation, when deciding whether to invest in this stock. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it's free. Sign in to access your portfolio


Gizmodo
an hour ago
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Only 5-Star Reviews for This Dell Inspiron (Ryzen 7, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD), Now 75% Off on Amazon
Powerful laptops (for business and leisure) typically cost a lot of money, and a top-tier configuration easily pushes the price above $2,000. This is why this Dell Inspiron 15 touchscreen laptop price is begging attention with its breathtaking… 75% discount on Amazon for $759, down from an original list price of $2,999 ($2,240 off and it's not even Black Friday!). Besides that incredible price, this all-in-one package also includes Windows 11 Pro for a more secure Windows experience, Microsoft Office Pro with a lifetime license and with Copilot AI capabilities, a 64GB SD card for extra storage and a free 4-in-1 docking station right out of the box. This is definitely one of our favorite laptop deals of 2025 so far. See at Amazon Powerful And Reliable Dell Laptop The basic engine for the Dell Inspiron 15 is an AMD Ryzen 7 7730U processor which has 8 cores and 16 threads and supports turbo speeds up to 4.5 GHz. This processor was designed for efficiency and performance to run multiple applications at the same time including demanding applications for things. The AMD Radeon graphics provide successful integrated graphics that are smooth and stout enough for moderate gaming and creative projects. The 32GB of DDR4 RAM is a standout feature (especially at this price point) and it allows users to run multiple applications simultaneously without a hint of slowdown. Within this class of laptops, most are capped at 16GB, and so to find a new machine with a 32GB configuration (such as this Inspiron model) is pretty rare and highly valuable. See at Amazon In terms of storage, this model exceeds expectations and what you can expect from the market: The 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD allows for speedy boot times and fast file access to handle large projects and media libraries with ease which is impressive by any standard. The inclusion of a 64GB SD card and the 4-in-1 docking station are a nice bonus and offer extra space for photos and a useful connectivity tool. The touchscreen is also responsive (Dell is really good at this) and the keyboard allows the user to type comfortably with limited effort for extended periods of time. The range of ports should also please most users as it has USB Type-A and Type-C, HDMI, and an SD Card Reader, all the essentials. The connectivity is great too, bringing Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth to guarantee speedy quality in connections. The 15.6-inch Full HD IPS touchscreen is a treat for both work and play, and you'll absolutely love it. With a 1920×1080 resolution, anti-glare coating and narrow bezels, you'll see exceptional vibrant colors and well-defined details and the added convenience in touch functionality is extremely useful for presentations. The OS is a huge premium here too, being a certified copy of Windows 11 Pro for advanced security, integrated Microsoft services support, great interactivity, and a great interface that is optimized for productivity. The preinstalled Office Pro Suite with a lifetime license for latest versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and countless other productivity and business tools is a great feature. As a bonus for the office worker/collaborator, the Microsoft Copilot AI is a great new integration tool. As an AI-assisted workflow tool, it is great for accelerating productivity by automating repetitive tasks and making intelligent suggestions for later on and keeping the user organized as a task planner to support productivity. Copilot is implemented to simplify the job and make it both less intimidating and less time-consuming. If you've been waiting for a sign to upgrade your tech, this might just be it. See at Amazon