SAN FRANCISCO: OpenAI on Tuesday said that the startup was valued at $852 billion in a freshly closed funding round that raised $122 billion.&nbsp;The eye-watering level of funding came in higher than originally projected, reflecting the surging costs of computing power and arriving amid lingering questions about whether OpenAI and other AI companies can generate sufficient revenue to cover expenses.&nbsp;&quot;The capital being deployed today is helping build the infrastructure layer for intelligence itself,&quot; OpenAI said in a blog post.&nbsp;&quot;Over time, that value will flow back into the economy, to companies, to communities, and increasingly to individuals.&quot;&nbsp;The ChatGPT-maker said that its revenue rate of $2 billion monthly is quickly growing.&nbsp;The funding round included a diverse set of partners including Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Softbank, according to OpenAI.&nbsp;In an unusual move, some $3 billion was reportedly raised from individual investors.&nbsp;ChatGPT claims the top position in consumer AI, with more than 900 million weekly active users and some 50 million subscribers.&nbsp;Use of ChatGPT&#39;s online search engine has tripled over the course of a year, according to OpenAI.&nbsp;&quot;These are not just growth milestones -- they show that frontier AI is becoming part of everyday life for people around the world,&quot; the San Francisco-based startup said in the post.&nbsp;The company in February began rolling out advertising for its non-premium users in a bid to bring in more revenue.&nbsp;OpenAI also announced that it is building a &quot;superapp&quot; that will combine ChatGPT, internet browsing, a Codex coding tool, and agentic capabilities that allow digital assistants to independently tend to tasks.&nbsp;The massive funding round comes with anticipation that OpenAI is planning to become a publicly traded company this year as competition intesifies in the AI sector.&nbsp;Arch-rival Anthropic, founded by former OpenAI employees, continues to gain ground and grab headlines for its well-regarded Claude AI models.&nbsp;Anthropic earlier this year secured a $30 billion funding round.&nbsp;Google&#39;s AI model Gemini has emerged as another potent competitor, with Elon Musk&#39;s xAI also attracting investment and users.

Artificial Intelligence

OpenAI raised $122 billion in a funding round valuing it at $852 billion, backed by major partners and individuals, while expanding ChatGPT, building a superapp, growing revenue, and preparing for public listing amid AI competition.

OpenAI raises $122 billion in boosted funding round

WASHINGTON: Bill Gates has admitted making a &quot;huge mistake&quot; in associating with Jeffrey Epstein, telling staff at his charity foundation that he had affairs with two Russian women but denying involvement in the disgraced financier&#39;s crimes. The Microsoft co-founder is among the prominent names appearing in documents released by the US Justice Department that revealed close friendships, illicit financial dealings and private photos with convicted sex offender Epstein. In a town hall on Tuesday with staff at the Gates Foundation, a recording of which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Gates expressed regret that his relationship with Epstein had affected the work of his philanthropic organization. &quot;It was a huge mistake to spend time with Epstein,&quot; and to also bring Gates Foundation executives into meetings with Epstein, he said. &quot;I apologize to other people who are drawn into this because of the mistake that I made.&quot; In a draft email among the documents released by the Justice Department, Epstein alleged Gates engaged in extramarital affairs, writing that his relationship with Gates ranged from &quot;helping Bill to get drugs, in order to deal with consequences of sex with Russian girls, to facilitating his illicit trysts, with married women.&quot; &#39;I saw nothing illicit&#39; Gates, 70, admitted at the town hall to two affairs. &quot;I did have affairs, one with a Russian bridge player who met me at bridge events, and one with a Russian nuclear physicist who I met through business activities,&quot; he said. But he denied any involvement with victims of Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking underage girls. &quot;I did nothing illicit. I saw nothing illicit,&quot; Gates told the town hall. The tech titan said his relationship with Epstein began in 2011, three years after the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution. Gates said he knew of an &quot;18-month thing&quot; restricting Epstein&#39;s travel but didn&#39;t check his background. He said his then-wife Melinda expressed concerns about Epstein in 2013, but that he continued the relationship for at least another year. &quot;Knowing what I know now makes it, you know, a hundred times worse in terms of not only his crimes in the past, but now it&#39;s clear there was ongoing bad behavior,&quot; Gates told staff. The Gates Foundation said Gates addressed the Epstein case and other issues at its scheduled twice-yearly town hall event. &quot;Bill spoke candidly, addressing several questions in detail, and took responsibility for his actions,&quot; it said in a statement to AFP.

Americas

In a draft email among the documents released by the Justice Department, Epstein alleges Gates engaged in extramarital affairs, writing that his relationship with Gates ranged from "helping Bill to get drugs […] to facilitating his illicit trysts, with married women."

Bill Gates admits affairs but denies involvement in Epstein crimes

SAN FRANCISCO: Microsoft on Wednesday said it has taken coordinated legal action in the United States and Britain to disrupt a low-cost subscription service called RedVDS that helps cybercriminals carry out lucrative scams.&nbsp;RedVDS charges as little as $24 monthly for access to disposable virtual computers that enable large-scale fraud that is difficult to trace, according to the company.&nbsp;&quot;Services like these have quietly become a driving force behind today&#39;s surge in cyber-enabled crime,&quot; Digital Crimes Unit Assistant General Counsel Steven Masada said in a blog post.&nbsp;Microsoft said RedVDS has been used primarily for payment diversion fraud, where attackers intercept legitimate business communications and redirect funds by impersonating trusted parties.&nbsp;Two victims joined Microsoft as co-plaintiffs: an Alabama pharmaceutical company that lost more than $7.3 million, and a Florida condominium association defrauded of nearly $500,000 in resident funds.&nbsp;Real estate transactions have been particularly vulnerable, Microsoft said.&nbsp;Generative AI tools are often paired with RedVDS services to help identify prime targets quickly and generate more authentic-appearing messages to victims, according to Masada.&nbsp;Microsoft reported finding hundreds of cases in which scammers used AI tools for face-swapping, voice cloning or video manipulation to trick victims.&nbsp;RedVDS did not respond to a request for comment.&nbsp;Microsoft estimated that <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/google-says-hackers-are-sending-extortion-emails-to-executives" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">cybercrime</a> involving RedVDS services is linked to some $40 million in US fraud losses since March of last year.&nbsp;Microsoft coordinated the legal action against RedVDS with Britain as part of a broad effort to thwart the growing trend of &quot;cybercrime-as-a-service,&quot; according to Masada.&nbsp;RedVDS provides inexpensive access to effective virtual computers running unlicensed software, allowing criminals to operate quickly, anonymously and across borders, Masada said.&nbsp;The US tech giant said the effort includes prosecutors and police in Germany, where a critical computer server used to power RedVDS was seized, according to Masada.&nbsp;Microsoft said it is also working with Europol&#39;s European Cybercrime Centre and law enforcement agencies elsewhere to disrupt the RedVDS server and payment networks.

Microsoft logo displayed at the company’s annual shareholder meeting, with the stage and branding visible in the background.

Microsoft launched coordinated legal action in the US and Britain against RedVDS, a low-cost service enabling large-scale cyber fraud, often paired with AI tools, linked to $40 million in losses and disrupted with international law enforcement support.

Microsoft disrupts cybercrime service linked to AI-enabled fraud

SAN FRANCISCO: Microsoft said Tuesday it will shoulder the full electricity costs of its US data centers to prevent American households from facing higher power bills driven by surging AI energy demand.&nbsp;US President Donald Trump first announced the initiative late Monday on Truth Social, saying his administration had been working with technology companies to ensure they &quot;pay their own way&quot; for power consumption.&nbsp;&quot;I never want Americans to pay higher Electricity bills because of Data Centers,&quot; Trump wrote.&nbsp;Ahead of midterm elections in November, the increase in electricity bills has become a hot-button issue across the country, with tech companies multiplying major data center projects to meet their AI ambitions.&nbsp;US data center electricity consumption is projected to more than triple by 2035, according to the International Energy Agency, and already covers six to eight percent of US electricity use.&nbsp;To meet the demand, utilities sometimes need to build new power plants, upgrade transmission lines, or expand grid capacity -- investments that usually get passed on to all customers through rate increases.&nbsp;Microsoft said Tuesday it will work with utilities and regulators to ensure residential customers are not charged for the massive infrastructure investments needed.&nbsp;&quot;Especially when tech companies are so profitable, we believe that it&#39;s both unfair and politically unrealistic for our industry to ask the public to shoulder added electricity costs for AI,&quot; Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote in a blog post.&nbsp;The company outlined a four-point plan, including paying higher rates that cover infrastructure costs and collaborating early with utilities on how to pay for grid expansion.&nbsp;Microsoft pointed to deals in Wyoming and Wisconsin as models, where the company has structured agreements that protect residential ratepayers.&nbsp;The move comes as the United States faces aging electricity infrastructure and supply chain bottlenecks, with new transmission projects taking seven to 10 years due to permitting delays.&nbsp;Trump said more announcements from other technology companies would follow &quot;in the coming weeks.&quot;&nbsp;Microsoft also said it will replenish more water than its data centers withdraw, responding to growing concerns that AI infrastructure is straining local water systems.&nbsp;This would be done through leak detection programs, wetland restoration, and water infrastructure upgrades, the company said.&nbsp;AI data centers run chips at extremely high temperatures that would burn out within minutes without proper cooling, usually provided by locally supplied water.

Microsoft will cover electricity costs for its US data centers to prevent higher household power bills as AI demand grows, following a Trump-backed initiative, pledging to fund grid upgrades and reduce water use impacts.

Microsoft says will foot AI's massive power bill

LISBON: Microsoft said Tuesday it intends to invest $10 billion from early next year in a mega data centre in Portugal dedicated to developing artificial intelligence infrastructure.&nbsp;The project, in partnership with British firm Nscale, which specialises in AI data centres, and with Start Campus, which has begun construction of a major data centre near the southern port of Sines, will see Microsoft install 12,600 of Nvidia&#39;s latest-generation chips.&nbsp;The company in a statement termed the scheme &quot;one of the largest investments in AI computing capacity in Europe&quot;.&nbsp;In an interview with the Portuguese business daily Jornal de Negocios, Microsoft President Brad Smith said Portugal has emerged as a key European destination for data centre construction and investment.&nbsp;Smith is currently in Lisbon for the Web Summit, a key annual event in the hi-tech calendar, dubbed &quot;Davos for geeks&quot;.&nbsp;In addition to a data centre powered by renewable energy, the Sines site has the advantage of being a link point for important submarine telecommunications cables linking the Americas to Europe.&nbsp;Regarding data centres, &quot;demand in the AI field, particularly over the last five months, has become quite crazy,&quot; Nscale&#39;s product director, Daniel Bathurst, told AFP.&nbsp;For a player like Microsoft, &quot;it&#39;s a race against time,&quot; he added.&nbsp;&quot;We have the expertise, we have access to the energy, and we can implement this for them on time,&quot; he added in an interview on the sidelines of the Web Summit.

Microsoft will invest $10 billion in a mega AI data centre in Portugal’s Sines, partnering with Nscale and Start Campus. The site, powered by renewable energy, will host 12,600 Nvidia chips, meeting surging AI demand.

Microsoft says to invest $10 bn in Portugal AI data centre

SYDNEY: Australian police are working on an AI prototype that will help them decipher Gen Z slang and emoji-laden messages written by online predators, a top official said on&nbsp;Wednesday. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said social media had become a breeding ground for bullying, sexual exploitation and radicalization. Police were working with software giant Microsoft to develop a tool that would unravel sinister messages hidden by seemingly innocuous emojis and slang, she said. Clever AFP members, with Microsoft, are developing a prototype AI tool that will interpret emojis and Gen Z-and-Alpha slang in encrypted communications. &quot;This prototype aims to make it quicker for our teams to save children from harm much earlier.&quot; Barrett also warned about the rise of so-called &quot;crimefluencers&quot; -- online predators who used their social media savvy to target young and vulnerable users. &quot;They are crimefluencers, and they are motivated by anarchy and hurting others, with most of their victims pre-teen or teenage girls,&quot; she said. Australia will from December 10 force social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to remove users under the age of 16. There is keen interest in whether Australia&#39;s sweeping restrictions can work, as regulators around the globe wrestle with the dangers of social media.

Australian police, in partnership with Microsoft, are developing an AI tool to decode Gen Z slang and emojis used by online predators. The initiative aims to detect hidden abuse, counter “crimefluencers,” and protect children online.

Australian police build AI to decode Gen Z slang in predator chats

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Former Blizzard Entertainment President Mike Ybarra has publicly criticized Microsoft&rsquo;s decision to announce a second price increase for its Xbox Series consoles in the United States within just two weeks. Microsoft attributed the price hike, effective October 3, to &ldquo;macroeconomic conditions&rdquo; but did not mention any new tariffs. Ybarra challenged this explanation, accusing Microsoft of using tariffs as a pretext to boost profits. The new pricing raises the Xbox Series S 512GB to $399.99 and the 1TB version to $449.99. Prices for the Xbox Series X have also increased, with the standard model now $649.99 and the 2TB Galaxy Black Special Edition at $799.99. While the initial price increase earlier this year was linked to new US tariffs, no new tariffs have been introduced since then, prompting questions about the justification for the recent hike. Ybarra acknowledged that the first increase could be explained by tariffs but argued the second hike focuses on profit. On Twitter, he stated that console price rises are &ldquo;not tariff issues, they are profit issues,&rdquo; adding that the underlying problems affecting profits go beyond tariffs. He called the recent price increase &ldquo;an excuse to continue raising prices, with no new increase in tariffs,&rdquo; warning that consumers will bear the cost. The rising cost of gaming has been a concern for both consumers and developers, with hardware, games, and accessories becoming more expensive. Despite tariff-related impacts, Microsoft reported an 18% revenue increase in its latest financial results. Gamers on platforms like Reddit have expressed scepticism about the stated reasons, some accusing companies of masking corporate greed behind tariff claims and fearing prices may stay high even after economic conditions improve. Ybarra&rsquo;s remarks have reignited debates about pricing transparency and fairness in the gaming industry. Some gamers have also considered switching to PC gaming as consoles become less affordable. Microsoft maintains it is focusing on delivering value and expanding gaming options but has not offered further comments.

Former Blizzard president criticizes Microsoft over Xbox price hike

Gadgets

Microsoft attributed the second price hike to “macroeconomic conditions” but Mike Ybarra challenged this. 