Microsoft
Reporting and context on Microsoft, with a closer look at the decisions and developments that matter.
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At a glance
Microsoft develops software, cloud infrastructure and AI products. Coverage follows Azure, Copilot, AI partnerships and enterprise adoption.
- Focus
- Azure; Copilot; enterprise software
- Reference
- Microsoft
Reviewed 19 October 2026. Dates retain the precision of the source; retrospective disclosures are identified in the event. Azure annual revenue, AI annualized revenue and Copilot paid seats retain their distinct definitions.
Company milestones
Revenue, funding, product launches and major company events, newest first. Expand the earlier milestones for more history.
Azure annual sales exceed $100B
Microsoft reports the fiscal-year milestone, alongside more than 30M paid Microsoft 365 Copilot seats. Seats are an adoption measure, not revenue.
Source: MicrosoftRevises the OpenAI partnership
Microsoft’s model license becomes non-exclusive; OpenAI gains flexibility to serve products across clouds while revenue-sharing terms continue under a cap.
Source: OpenAI / Microsoft
Show earlier milestonesHide earlier milestones2025–1975 · 7 milestones
Earlier revenue, financing and company milestones.
Azure annual revenue exceeds $75B
Fiscal 2025 Azure revenue rises 34%; this is the first disclosure of Azure’s annual sales at this scale, rather than total Microsoft Cloud sales.
Source: Microsoft annual reportAI business passes a $13B annual run rate
Microsoft reports 175% year-over-year growth in its AI business’s annualized revenue. This is not the same scope as Azure’s full-year sales.
Source: MicrosoftIntroduces Microsoft 365 Copilot
Generative AI enters Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams workflows, creating a new commercial software offering.
Source: MicrosoftExpands its OpenAI investment
The companies announce a multiyear, multibillion-dollar extension of the partnership begun in 2019.
Source: OpenAIInvests $1B in OpenAI
The initial multiyear agreement links OpenAI’s research with Azure AI supercomputing infrastructure.
Source: MicrosoftCompletes the LinkedIn acquisition
The professional network joins Microsoft, expanding its business software, data and distribution ecosystem.
Source: LinkedInMicrosoft is founded
The software company later expands from personal computing into enterprise software, cloud infrastructure and AI.
Source: Microsoft
The latest on Microsoft
Newest firstRelated reporting
Briefs, articles and relevant sections, newest first. Explore older coverage below.
More coverage
Nadella Says 77% Cheaper, Benchmark Says 51%
Nadella promised Copilot Fusion at up to 77% lower cost; the independent benchmark found about 51% cheaper, two points behind Claude Code.
Microsoft Trims AI Spending, Blames Late GPUs
Microsoft cut its 2026 capex forecast to $170 billion because rented GPU capacity arrived late, while Azure grew 48% and demand still outran supply.
Xbox's First COO Exits After Three Months
Helen Chiang left Microsoft three months into Xbox's new COO job; Microsoft gave no reason, and one unverified report cites policy violations.
Microsoft Offers Buyouts to 60,000 People
Plus: Anthropic's IPO Is an $800 Billion Lease, Meta Can't Wait for Its Own Stock
Nadella No Longer Thinks Alignment Comes Free
Microsoft's CEO says he no longer believes alignment will fall out of scaling, and Microsoft now builds controls that treat AI agents as insider threats.
GPT-6.1 Terra Leaks Through Microsoft's Code
Microsoft set unannounced GPT-6.1 Terra as an eval judge, then switched back; an X account claims it beats Sol for less, unconfirmed by OpenAI.
Suleyman Says Microsoft's AI Beats Doctors
Microsoft says its diagnostic AI hit 83% accuracy on hard cases against 36% for doctors, on a benchmark it built, before any live patient test.
Scammers Just Lost to Agents
Plus: Electricity Now Picks AI's Tenants, Grok Testified Against SpaceXAI
Microsoft Wants Companies to Distrust Their Agents
Microsoft unveiled controls that strip AI agents of permissions as their risk scores rise, with its own GitHub Copilot among the agents it tracks.
