Microsoft will offer refunds after admitting that it “fell short of our standards” by failing to inform users of the Microsoft 365 productivity suite that they could have stayed with a cheaper version of the suite that did not include the tech giant’s Copilot AI features. The move relates to the October 2024 introduction of… Read more »
The competition regulator alleged Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plan subscribers were told to either pay higher prices for Copilot or cancel.
This was false or misleading, the ACCC claims, because there was an undisclosed third option for subscribers to keep their existing ‘classic’ plan, without Copilot or the markup in price.
The only way customers could find out about the ‘classic’ plans was when they opted to cancel their subscription because that was when a new page appeared offering the option to switch to the ‘classic’ plan instead.
Australia’s competition regulator says the dominance of the country’s three major cloud computing providers — Microsoft, Google, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) — means such companies could be incentivised to engage in anti-competitive behaviour, potentially increasing risks to consumers and the wider market. The major cloud providers — often called ‘hyperscalers’ due to their capacity… Read more »
Bill Gates, cofounder of Microsoft, is one of the world’s richest men. He is also a highly controversial figure. On one hand, he contributes to social, medical and environmental causes through his foundation, making grants worth more than US$77 billion ($A123 billion) from its inception to the end of 2023. On the other, he has… Read more »
After a year of shoehorning generative AI into its flagship products, Microsoft is trying to recoup the costs by raising prices, putting ads in products, and cancelling data centre leases. Google is making similar moves, adding unavoidable AI features to its Workspace service while increasing prices. Is the tide finally turning on investments into generative… Read more »
Startup founders need to think about how to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into their business with care and attention to potential risks in order to attract investors, a leading VC says. But a fear of those risks and regulation shouldn’t cause a “paralysis moment” that stop innovation, says Lee Hickin, the AI technology policy lead… Read more »
Tech-focused coworking community Tank Stream Labs has launched an AI Hub powered by Microsoft at the Sydney Startup Hub Tank Stream Labs CEO Bradley Delamare said the AI Hub will be a dedicated community to founders, developers and startup/scale-up companies in the AI sector. “We are excited to introduce the Tank Stream Labs AI Hub… Read more »
From a telco platform recognised as having the ‘Best AI Product in Telecom’ at London’s CogX Festival, to AI-powered retail tech that increases shopper basket sizes, these Australian and New Zealand startups are getting noticed globally. Earlier this month, Startup Daily and Microsoft joined forces for our first-ever AI Deep Dive event for startups, founders… Read more »
Microsoft is looking to sure up its position in its battle against AWS, partnering with the Australian government to improve cybersecurity as part of $5 billion spend over the next two years on cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure. The capital expenditure was announced by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the Australian Embassy in… Read more »
Microsoft has been its own worst enemy this week as the tech giant suffered two unrelated data leak incidents where masses of internal documents, trade secrets, and backups of employee computers were released on the internet. On Tuesday, researchers at security company Wiz went public about a 38TB trove of data that Microsoft’s AI team had accidentally… Read more »
Generative AI could contribute between $45bn & $115bn annually to the Australian economy by 2030 That represents 2% to 5% of total economic output. 4 key sectors will benefit: healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and professional and financial services. Barriers include technology capability, enterprise readiness, awareness & skills, and responsible AI Using artificial intelligence (AI) in business… Read more »
Is it time to put the brakes on the development of artificial intelligence (AI)? If you’ve quietly asked yourself that question, you’re not alone. In the past week, a host of AI luminaries signed an open letter calling for a six-month pause on the development of more powerful models than GPT-4; European researchers called for… Read more »
Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, and over 1300 academics, tech and business luminaries have signed a Future of Life Institute (FLI) open letter calling for a 6-month freeze on “out-of-control” AI development that, they say, poses “profound risks to society and humanity.” That development has accelerated at a furious rate since last November’s release of GPT-3… Read more »
Google and Microsoft are on a mission to remove the drudgery from computing, by bringing next-generation AI tools as add-ons to existing services. On March 16, Microsoft announced an AI-powered system called Copilot will soon be introduced to its 365 suite apps including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. The news came about two days… Read more »
The five largest tech giants may be using ‘dark patterns’ to prevent consumers from adopting online services from competitors, the ACCC has warned as it solicits feedback on a new issues paper exploring the companies’ entrance into a diverse range of markets. Recent years have seen Amazon, Apple, Facebook parent company Meta, Microsoft, and Google… Read more »
Daily startup news and insights, delivered to your inbox.
