
Microsoft Hits $4 Trillion Valuation as Cloud and AI Drive Record Growth
Microsoft's stock price surged by about 4% today, driven by robust earnings and, notably, its decision to break out Azure revenue figures for the first time. The company disclosed that its Azure cloud division generated over $75 billion during its 2025 fiscal year—a figure that instantly sparked investor confidence and pushed shares higher in after-hours trading on Nasdaq.
Over the past decade, Microsoft has steadily expanded its Azure cloud business, which now sits ahead of Google Cloud in revenue and trails only Amazon Web Services. Beyond cloud computing, Azure has become the backbone for much of Microsoft's ecosystem—from Office software and Windows to Xbox gaming and cutting-edge AI initiatives.
Microsoft's aggressive investments are also paying off in the AI race. Earlier this year, when questions swirled around The Stargate Project's $100 billion funding, CEO Satya Nadella stood firm on Microsoft's massive bet on the future. 'All I know is, I'm good for my $80 billion,' said Nadella, emphasizing the company's commitment to cloud and AI data centers.
In line with this vision, CFO Amy Hood confirmed plans to pour another $30 billion into AI infrastructure in the next quarter alone. If this pace continues, Microsoft could spend well over $120 billion on AI and cloud projects in the coming year, further solidifying its position at the forefront of the tech landscape.
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Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Anthropic CEO fires back at NVIDIA's Jensen Huang sparking explosive AI ethics clash. Calls his words 'the most outrageous lie'
— BigTechPod (@BigTechPod) A Battle of Beliefs Race to the Top vs. Race to the Bottom A Clash Rooted in Business and Belief In a sharply worded rebuttal that adds heat to an already simmering Silicon Valley rivalry Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has accused NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang of twisting his words and intentions on AI governance and safety. Speaking on the Big Technology Podcast, Amodei slammed Huang's claim that Anthropic believes only it should be allowed to develop advanced AI systems.'That's the most outrageous lie I've ever heard,' Amodei said, visibly frustrated. 'I've said nothing that anywhere near resembles the idea that this company should be the only one to build the technology.'The comments come amid a widening philosophical divide in the tech world—between those calling for controlled, measured AI deployment and others advocating for open innovation at full feud escalated after Jensen Huang publicly accused Amodei of advocating for exclusive control over AI development. During VivaTech 2025 in Paris, Huang told reporters, 'He thinks AI is so scary, but only they should do it,' referring to Amodei's lobbying for export controls on semiconductor technology and repeated warnings about AI's disruptive has indeed sounded the alarm on AI's capacity to wipe out as much as 20% of entry-level white-collar jobs in the next five years—a prediction he shared with Axios earlier this year. Huang, on the other hand, has remained consistently upbeat, insisting AI will transform rather than destroy jobs.'I pretty much disagree with almost everything he says,' Huang said at the the podcast, Amodei elaborated on what he calls a 'race to the top'—an approach he believes all AI developers should follow. 'When you have a race to the bottom, it doesn't matter who wins—everyone loses,' he said. 'With a race to the top, it doesn't matter who wins because everyone wins.'He pointed to Anthropic's transparent policies, such as their 'Responsible Scaling Policy' and open-access interpretability research, as proof that the company is not hoarding progress behind closed doors. Instead, he argued, these initiatives were designed to encourage safer practices across the entire industry.'We've released our work so others can build on it,' Amodei said. 'Sometimes that means giving up commercial advantages—but it's worth it for the field to grow responsibly.'There may also be financial motivations at play in this war of words. Amodei's support for semiconductor export controls to China could hinder NVIDIA's massive chip sales, particularly in the AI boom where demand for powerful GPUs is soaring. Huang, whose company stands to lose billions if such restrictions tighten, has not held back his criticism of however, is adamant that the friction isn't about limiting competition but about fostering responsibility in an industry where mistakes can have global consequences.'It's just an incredible and bad faith distortion,' he said of Huang's the race toward superintelligence intensifies, the dispute between Amodei and Huang highlights an essential question: who gets to define 'safe' in the age of AI?While Meta, OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic continue pushing the frontiers of artificial intelligence , the real divide may not lie in model sizes or compute power—but in values. Should AI be guided by market dynamics and open-source contributions, as Huang believes? Or does it need more control and caution, as Amodei argues?


Economic Times
5 hours ago
- Economic Times
Anthropic CEO fires back at NVIDIA's Jensen Huang sparking explosive AI ethics clash. Calls his words 'the most outrageous lie'
AP In a heated exchange, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei refuted NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang's claims about his stance on AI governance, calling them an "outrageous lie." Amodei advocates for responsible AI development, emphasizing safety and transparency, while Huang champions open innovation and market-driven progress. In a sharply worded rebuttal that adds heat to an already simmering Silicon Valley rivalry, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has accused NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang of twisting his words and intentions on AI governance and safety. Speaking on the Big Technology Podcast , Amodei slammed Huang's claim that Anthropic believes only it should be allowed to develop advanced AI systems. 'That's the most outrageous lie I've ever heard,' Amodei said, visibly frustrated. 'I've said nothing that anywhere near resembles the idea that this company should be the only one to build the technology.' The comments come amid a widening philosophical divide in the tech world—between those calling for controlled, measured AI deployment and others advocating for open innovation at full throttle. — BigTechPod (@BigTechPod) The feud escalated after Jensen Huang publicly accused Amodei of advocating for exclusive control over AI development. During VivaTech 2025 in Paris, Huang told reporters, 'He thinks AI is so scary, but only they should do it,' referring to Amodei's lobbying for export controls on semiconductor technology and repeated warnings about AI's disruptive potential. Amodei has indeed sounded the alarm on AI's capacity to wipe out as much as 20% of entry-level white-collar jobs in the next five years—a prediction he shared with Axios earlier this year. Huang, on the other hand, has remained consistently upbeat, insisting AI will transform rather than destroy jobs. 'I pretty much disagree with almost everything he says,' Huang said at the summit. On the podcast, Amodei elaborated on what he calls a 'race to the top'—an approach he believes all AI developers should follow. 'When you have a race to the bottom, it doesn't matter who wins—everyone loses,' he said. 'With a race to the top, it doesn't matter who wins because everyone wins.' He pointed to Anthropic's transparent policies, such as their 'Responsible Scaling Policy' and open-access interpretability research, as proof that the company is not hoarding progress behind closed doors. Instead, he argued, these initiatives were designed to encourage safer practices across the entire industry. 'We've released our work so others can build on it,' Amodei said. 'Sometimes that means giving up commercial advantages—but it's worth it for the field to grow responsibly.' There may also be financial motivations at play in this war of words. Amodei's support for semiconductor export controls to China could hinder NVIDIA's massive chip sales, particularly in the AI boom where demand for powerful GPUs is soaring. Huang, whose company stands to lose billions if such restrictions tighten, has not held back his criticism of Amodei. Amodei, however, is adamant that the friction isn't about limiting competition but about fostering responsibility in an industry where mistakes can have global consequences. 'It's just an incredible and bad faith distortion,' he said of Huang's the race toward superintelligence intensifies, the dispute between Amodei and Huang highlights an essential question: who gets to define 'safe' in the age of AI? While Meta, OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic continue pushing the frontiers of artificial intelligence, the real divide may not lie in model sizes or compute power—but in values. Should AI be guided by market dynamics and open-source contributions, as Huang believes? Or does it need more control and caution, as Amodei argues?


NDTV
5 hours ago
- NDTV
Hot Dogs, Selfies, Sneakers: Humanoid Robot Grabs New York City's Attention
New Delhi: A humanoid robot marched through Midtown Manhattan last week, causing a stir and drawing shocked stares in the heart of New York City. The robot, branded KOID and priced at around $100,000 (Rs 87.2 lakh), was deployed by global asset management firm KraneShares in a marketing stunt to promote its new Global Humanoid and Embodied Intelligence Index ETF, which launched in June. The robot had previously rung the Nasdaq opening bell. During the stunt, KOID was seen walking along Fifth Avenue, grabbing a hot dog, posing for selfies, and even walking into a Hoka store, where startled staff helped it try on sneakers. The event was filmed and posted to Instagram. View this post on Instagram A post shared by New Yorkers (@newyorkers) A blind man praised the technology as "wonderful," suggesting it could one day help people who can't use guide dogs due to allergies or other issues. Another passerby said, "I mean, I would love for it to clean my house." Not all reactions were positive. "To mess with humanity . . . y'all gotta stop. Satan, I rebuke you to hell," one man yelled. Asked about a potential robot-led future, a woman said, "It's going to happen." The robot was built by Chinese robotics company Unitree and supplied by Long Island-based RoboStore. It operates using Stanford's OpenMind software and, while remote-controlled during the Midtown walk, is fully programmable and already in use at research labs and universities. Since the ETF's launch, KraneShares reports $28 million in assets under management. According to KraneShares' marketing head Joseph Dube, "At some point these robots will be so common that it's not going to have the wow factor that it currently has. We're definitely taking advantage of a moment in time." According to the Morgan Stanley Global Humanoid Model, the humanoid robotics market could grow to 1 billion units and generate $5 trillion in annual revenue by 2050.