Microsoft

Key points:

• The lay-offs affect about 5 per cent of the employees
• Microsoft said it was important to build a new computer platform using AI
• Other tech companies have been cutting jobs amid concerns about an economic slowdown

The company said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday that it had just notified employees of the lay-offs, some of which will begin immediately.

The company said it will also be making changes to its hardware portfolio and consolidating its leased office locations.

The software analyses photos and videos to give a confidence score about whether the material is likely to have been artificially created.

The firm says it hopes the tech will help "combat disinformation".

One expert has said it risks becoming quickly outdated because of the pace at which deepfake tech is advancing.

To address this, Microsoft has also announced a separate system to help content producers add hidden code to their footage so any subsequent changes can be easily flagged.

The goal is to help health chiefs model the consequences of moving resources to best tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

Three US tech firms are aiding the effort - Amazon, Microsoft and Palantir - as well as London-based Faculty AI.

The plan is expected to be signed off by Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

"Every hospital is going to be thinking: Have we got enough ventilators? Well we need to keep ours because who knows what's going to happen - and that might not be the optimal allocation of ventilators," explained a source in one of the tech companies involved.

It is expected Sony will use Microsoft’s Azure cloud service to host its upcoming PlayStation streaming service.

Microsoft has been trialling a streaming offer of its own, under its Xbox brand.

The firms said they would also work together on semiconductors and artificial intelligence applications.

"For many years, Microsoft has been a key business partner for us, though of course the two companies have also been competing in some areas,” said Kenichio Yoshida, Sony’s chief executive.

The software giant ended Friday with a market value of more than $851bn (£668bn) compared with Apple's $847bn.

The two firms have been vying for top place all week, with Apple remaining ahead at the end of each trading day.

But the iPhone maker, which has seen its share price plunge in recent weeks, finally lost its lead.

On Friday, Microsoft shares gained more than 0.6% to close at $110.89, while Apple shares finished at $178.60, down about 0.5%.

Reportedly, Microsoft had also suffered a data breach four and a half years ago (in 2013), when a "highly sophisticated hacking group" breached its bug-reporting and patch-tracking database, but the hack was never made public until today.

According to five former employees of the company, interviewed separately by Reuters, revealed that the breached database had been "poorly protected with access possible via little more than a password."

Hundreds from around Europe have commented on the website Downdetector that they have been affected by the problem - many since Monday morning.

One common issue seems to be that sent emails remain in the drafts folder and are not being delivered to recipients.

On its website, Microsoft says the service dropped "unexpectedly" and it is working on a fix.

Not all account holders are affected.

"Intermittent connectivity is affecting customers in some European countries, which we are working to resolve as soon as possible," said a Microsoft representative.

The computing giant said software vulnerabilities hoarded by governments have caused "widespread damage".

The latest virus exploits a flaw in Microsoft Windows first identified by US intelligence.

There are fears of further "ransomware" attacks as people return to work on Monday.

The bug (CVE-2017-0290), tagged as “crazy bad” by the researchers, was present in the Microsoft Malware Protection Engine, a software component that fuels various anti-malware products including MS Security Essentials and the inbuilt Windows Defender tool in different Windows versions.

You can read more in the security advisory issued by Microsoft.

Windows 10S promises stronger virus protection and better battery life, and will be available on PCs costing as little as $189 (£146).

Experts said the move was designed to help Microsoft compete better with Google in the global schools market.

The firm said the products would help it reach a greater number of schools.

Microsoft and Apple have long dominated the school computing market, but they have struggled with the recent rise of Google's low-cost Chromebooks, which come loaded with the Chrome operating system and generally cost less than $300 in the US.