Microsoft ends its week on a high – after a trying time with tax bills and Copilot costs

It has been a busy week for Microsoft, with a $29B bill for back taxes from the IRS, revelations about the costs of its Copilot AI service, and the news that the UK has dropped its objections to the Activision merger deal. Just hours before we recorded this week's Kettle on Friday, British regulators grumpily dropped their …

[Pascal Monett]

"keep its platforms largely open for a few years"

So that'll be two years and a few months, then.

[t245t]

How Brad Smith used Microsoft’s $1bn law and lobbying machine to win Activision battle

How Brad Smith used Microsoft’s $1bn law and lobbying machine to win Activision battle

Pity Microsoft didn't use any of this $1bn in fixing bugs in the software.