Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology company founded by [[Bill Gates]] and Paul Allen on April 4, 1975.[^c1] Over five decades, the company evolved from a developer of personal computer software into one of the world's most valuable technology enterprises. Microsoft established the [[Windows]] operating system and Office productivity suite as industry standards, expanded into gaming with [[Xbox]], and transformed its business model under CEO [[Satya Nadella]] from a software-licensing model to cloud-based subscriptions anchored by [[Azure]].[^c2]
In its fiscal third quarter ended March 31, 2026, Microsoft reported revenue of $82.9 billion, up 18 percent year-over-year, with Microsoft Cloud revenue of $54.5 billion.[^c3] Azure grew 40 percent, and the company's AI business reached a $37 billion annual revenue run rate, up 123 percent year-over-year.[^c13] Wells Fargo raised Microsoft's price target to $650 in June 2026, citing the company's homegrown AI push and capacity investments ahead of Build 2026.[^c14] In fiscal year 2025, total annual revenue was $281.7 billion. In 2026, Microsoft introduced the Maia 200 AI accelerator and matched 100 percent of its annual electricity consumption with renewable energy.[^c18]
At Build 2026 in June, Microsoft launched seven in-house MAI models, introduced the [[N1X chip|Nvidia RTX Spark]] partnership with new Surface hardware and the Surface RTX Spark Dev Box delivering 1 petaflop of AI compute, unveiled the Majorana 2 quantum processor with a 2029 scalability target, and announced Project Solara — an Android-based platform for AI agent-first devices. The company also launched Microsoft Scout, its first enterprise "Autopilot" agent built on OpenClaw, and introduced the Microsoft Execution Container security framework for AI agents. Microsoft 365 Copilot expanded with agentic capabilities including Copilot Cowork and Copilot Tasks, shifting from chat-based assistance to autonomous multi-step execution.[^c19] In partnership with EY, Microsoft announced a joint $1 billion+ initiative to scale enterprise AI deployment.[^c11] In April 2026, Microsoft and OpenAI restructured their partnership, ending Azure's exclusive role as OpenAI's cloud provider.[^c5] The partnership generated roughly $30 billion in revenue between 2023 and 2025.[^c6] Microsoft also secured a $9.69 billion contract to supply Windows, Microsoft 365, and on-premises Azure tools to U.S. defense and intelligence agencies through Dell as the central supplier.[^c10] In May 2026, the company launched Copilot Health, expanding its AI platform into consumer healthcare.[^c9]
The company faced significant regulatory headwinds in mid-2026. The European Commission proposed the Cloud and AI Development Act, which would impose strict sovereignty requirements on cloud services for strategic state tenders, potentially excluding Microsoft from EU public procurement in banking, energy, and healthcare.[^c15] EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager opened a fresh antitrust investigation into the Microsoft-OpenAI partnership's exclusivity clauses.[^c16] In the United Kingdom, the Competition and Markets Authority launched a Strategic Market Status investigation into Microsoft's enterprise software ecosystem in May 2026, examining bundling practices across Windows, Office, and Teams, with a final decision expected by February 2027.[^c17]
In February 2026, [[Asha Sharma]] was appointed Executive Vice President and CEO of Microsoft Gaming, succeeding Phil Spencer.[^c23] In cybersecurity, Microsoft faced a public dispute with the researcher Nightmare Eclipse, who published six Windows zero-day exploits. After threatening criminal prosecution through its Digital Crimes Unit and drawing widespread backlash from the security community, Microsoft retreated on June 1, 2026, stating it had "no intention to pursue action against individuals conducting or publishing their security research."[^c20]
OpenAI, in which Microsoft holds a 27 percent stake, removed the word "safely" from its mission statement during its for-profit restructuring and replaced its 2018 charter with a new five-point principles document in April 2026 that de-emphasised AGI and dropped the pledge to step aside for safety-conscious competitors.[^c21] Windows 11 reached 1 billion active devices by January 2026, driven by the Windows 10 end-of-support deadline, while Windows OEM revenue grew modestly.[^c22]
The company also maintains a major presence in professional networking through [[LinkedIn]], in gaming through Xbox and its [[Activision Blizzard]] subsidiary, and in enterprise software through the Microsoft 365 suite. In May 2026, Microsoft and NVIDIA jointly teased a "new era of PC," confirming a partnership on the RTX Spark Arm-based processor for Windows PCs. The company has faced mounting regulatory scrutiny in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe over its cloud computing and AI market positions, alongside investor concerns about the scale of its capital expenditure on AI infrastructure. Its sustainability efforts have been complicated by rising energy demands from AI data centers, and in mid-2026 Microsoft signaled it may delay its clean energy targets.[^c7] The company also undertook significant workforce reductions in 2026, affecting approximately 10,000 employees through layoffs and voluntary buyouts.[^c8]