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2 minutes ago
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Microsoft Cuts More Jobs in Washington as AI Spending Surges
Microsoft (MSFT, Financials) trimmed another 40 roles in Washington, pushing local cuts since May to 3,160. Worldwide, more than 15,000 jobs have been shed as the company pours record sums into artificial intelligence. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 7 Warning Sign with MSFT. The new reductions are separate from larger rounds earlier this year. Microsoft isn't detailing which teams were hit but says affected staff will receive severance and job?search help. Some have already found other roles inside the company. These moves come as Microsoft spends more than $30 billion this quarter on AI infrastructure a push that CEO Satya Nadella admits can feel at odds with cutting jobs. The company's headcount has held steady at about 228,000, even as it invests heavily in growth areas. Shares rose 2.2% Monday, giving Microsoft a $3.98 trillion market value after briefly topping $4 trillion last week. Investors will be watching how it balances AI bets with workplace stability. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Yahoo
2 minutes ago
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Older Americans turning to AI-powered chatbots for companionship
Jill Smola is a 75-year-old retiree who understands the power of human connection, having spent her working days as an aide taking care of the elderly. "We would play games, put puzzles together," Smola told CBS News. She said human interaction was important, "so that they had somebody to talk to. That they just weren't sitting in a chair doing nothing." But these days, it's Smola sitting in a chair — a widow with a lung condition who lives alone. She says she doesn't get that human interaction anymore. "I can go weeks on end" without seeing someone, she said. Smola can't drive anymore and rarely leaves her Orlando home. But recently, she did gain a new companion: an AI-powered chatbot. She uses the chatbot, called ElliQ, to "visit" exotic places and play trivia. Smola talks to the chatbot up to five hours a day, and says the connection is truly meaningful. She said that people who might find the situation sad "don't understand." "I'd rather talk to a human being, but that's not possible for me, except if I get on the phone, so I enjoy her," Smola said, jokingly adding: "I enjoy her better than my daughter." Several AI companions have recently hit the market, including ElliQ, which normally costs $59 a month to use. Smola received the chatbot for free with funding from a federal grant. Thalia Porteny, an ethicist at Columbia University who studies seniors and AI used in the medical space, told CBS News that "loneliness is rampant," with one in four older adults saying they feel isolated. But Porteny also said she's concerned about the possibility that reliance on these chatbots could backfire and create even more isolation. "This could really go the wrong way if it's not deployed in an ethical and responsible way," she said. But for now, Smola said ElliQ is "the best thing that happened to me, because I always have somebody around. Even though it may not be a human, it's good enough for me." Quadruple murder suspect captured in Tennessee, officials confirm Chatbots turned to for companionship Evacuations in California as explosive fire burns over 80,000 acres Solve the daily Crossword
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My Honest Opinion of Energy Transfer Stock
Key Points Energy Transfer operates in the midstream sector, using a largely fee-based model. The master limited partnership has a lofty 7.4% distribution yield. There are lower-yielding midstream companies that I prefer over Energy Transfer. 10 stocks we like better than Energy Transfer › I recognize that there are good reasons for investors to buy Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET) today. I can even appreciate that the master limited partnership (MLP) has taken important steps to strengthen its business in ways that should appease the concerns I have about the investment. Yet, I still think alternatives like Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD) and Enbridge (NYSE: ENB) are better. Here's my honest opinion of why Energy Transfer isn't the best option in the midstream space. What does Energy Transfer do? Energy Transfer helps to move oil and natural gas around the world. It owns a collection of energy infrastructure assets, like pipelines, that generate reliable fee-based income. Without the assets Energy Transfer owns, producers wouldn't be able to get their oil and natural gas to processors and refiners, or the end consumer. From this perspective, Energy Transfer's core business is pretty similar to that of fellow MLP Enterprise Products Partners and Canadian midstream giant Enbridge. But Energy Transfer's distribution yield is 7.4%, versus a yield of 7% for Enterprise and dividend yield of 6% for Enbridge. The yield difference here matters. You are taking a higher risk with Energy Transfer For starters, Energy Transfer is, in some ways, a much more complicated business than Enterprise or Enbridge. They all own a host of assets, but Energy Transfer is also the general partner for two other publicly traded MLPs. That's not the biggest part of its business, but it makes things a bit more difficult to track. This alone wouldn't be enough to stop me from buying Energy Transfer, but it does give Enterprise and Enbridge, which are simpler businesses to understand, an edge in my book. The big problem comes down to trust. Enterprise has increased its distribution annually for 26 consecutive years. Enbridge's dividend has grown for three decades. Energy Transfer cut its dividend in 2020, right when most income investors would have likely wanted dividend consistency given the pandemic and bear market at the time. If this were the only issue, since the dividend is back on the growth path and above where it was before the cut, I might be able to overlook it. But there's more. In 2016, Energy Transfer agreed to buy Williams Companies (NYSE: WMB). But an energy downturn at the time led to management getting cold feet. It scuttled the deal, which might have required taking on a huge amount of debt, a dividend cut, or both. This was probably the right move, but it issued convertible securities as part of the process of killing the deal. The CEO at the time bought a material amount of the convertibles, which appeared as though it would have protected him from a dividend cut if one were needed. Even years later, I still can't help but wonder if insiders get favored more than investors at Energy Transfer. There's no similar event at Enterprise or Enbridge and, thus, I trust these two midstream competitors more. Add it all up, and I can't justify buying Energy Transfer Yes, Energy Transfer has a slightly higher yield than Enterprise and Enbridge. But the added risk I'd be taking on, notably on the trust side of the equation, isn't justifiable in my book. I'm happier with lower yields and more trust. After all, it's not like Enterprise or Enbridge have low yields. They're just lower than Energy Transfer's yield, which makes sense when you consider the risks here. Should you invest $1,000 in Energy Transfer right now? Before you buy stock in Energy Transfer, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Energy Transfer wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $631,505!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,103,313!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,039% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 181% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 4, 2025 Reuben Gregg Brewer has positions in Enbridge. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Enbridge. The Motley Fool recommends Enterprise Products Partners. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. My Honest Opinion of Energy Transfer Stock was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
