Microsoft

The source code for Microsoft Comic Chat is now available, opening up the workings of a project released in 1996 that turned the walls of text from chats into comic strips, generating panels and illustrations that represent the chat and are still backward-compatible with text-only clients.

This Windows Central rumor says Windows 11 could add a dedicated flyout menu for the phone companion to show your phone’s status and things like DND status or “find my phone.” Other possible updates could bring a standalone SMS syncing app and sync your clipboard history beyond just the last entry.

Game Developer reports the OneBGS union is holding the rally in support of laid off developers on July 15th at ZeniMax offices in Rockville, Austin, Dallas, and Montreal, as the union announced in an email to members:

The Doom developer is reportedly the latest Xbox studio to be hit by Microsoft’s ongoing layoffs, prompting a new variant on an age-old question.

Zac Bowden at Windows Central posted this video of Aion, a stripped-down Windows concept made for agentic AI that popped up on the BetaWiki Discord, and says sources have confirmed to him that it is a real video made in 2024.

You know what weeping gamers really want? A burned CD with their GitHub repo on it. Fun novelty if you can get it, though. “This is a limited run, so signing up doesn’t guarantee one,” writes Microsoft-owned GitHub.

If you loved Microsoft sticking Copilot in everything, just wait until its marketing department gets ahold of “quantum.“

The free Windows 10 extended support program was only supposed to last until October 13th, 2026, but Microsoft has quietly expanded support until October 12th, 2027. That gives users an extra year to avoid updating to Windows 11, or forking out for a new computer amid the ongoing RAMageddon.

The coalition of publishers alleges OpenAI and Microsoft “scraped, copied, and ingested” their work without permission or compensation to train their AI models. This latest legal battle adds to the string of copyright lawsuits OpenAI is facing from publishers like The New York Times, Ziff Davis, Merriam-Webster, and Encyclopedia Britannica.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the Microsoft CEO says that people won’t tolerate a small group of companies “doing all of the learning for the world.” Insert the We’re-All-Trying-To-Find-The-Guy-Who-Did-This meme. According to Nadella:

Like previous Halo titles, unlockable skulls in Halo: Campaign Evolved will allow you crank up explosions, turn down gravity, or celebrate every grunt headshot with confetti and fanfare. You can even mimic the gameplay of the classic Halo: Combat Evolved, or enable remixes of skulls for randomized choas.

On an episode of The Verge’s “Decoder” podcast, Suleyman said that in Anthropic’s Claude Constitution, they “speculate about its consciousness and whether it has those feelings and is aware.” He called it both “dangerous” and a “philosophical failing,” adding, “We want AIs to be controllable, contained, accountable, aligned tools that serve humanity.”

During an interview with The Game Business at Summer Game Fest, Xbox strategy chief Matthew Ball admitted to “underestimating” the RAM crisis, saying that demand for Xbox consoles “exceeds supply.” It’s pushing Xbox to re-evaluate its plans for its next-gen Helix console:

Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman came on Decoder this week to talk about the path to superintelligence and the company’s ever-evolving relationship with OpenAI. When asked whether Microsoft was using Build to flex its independence from OpenAI like a “freshly single divorcée,” Suleyman had this to say:

Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball acknowledged during a The Game Business Live interview at Summer Game Fest that the wave of cancellations happened over just a few months after the October price hike. Ball also admitted that “the value of the offering has now changed,” since Call of Duty games won’t be available day-one on Game Pass anymore.

An even messier return to console wars than we thought: As spotted by ResetEra, Microsoft’s own Xbox Podcast seems to have inadvertently revealed proof that Gears of War: E-Day was coming to PS5 before Xbox locked it down. The podcast episode has been pulled, presumably to fix the goof.