Microsoft
Reporting and context on Microsoft, with a closer look at the decisions and developments that matter.
Get AI Secret’s free daily briefing, including Microsoft and the wider AI industry.
At a glance
Microsoft develops software, cloud infrastructure and AI products. Coverage follows Azure, Copilot, AI partnerships and enterprise adoption.
- Focus
- Azure; Copilot; enterprise software
- Reference
- Microsoft
Reviewed 19 October 2026. Dates retain the precision of the source; retrospective disclosures are identified in the event. Azure annual revenue, AI annualized revenue and Copilot paid seats retain their distinct definitions.
Company milestones
Revenue, funding, product launches and major company events, newest first. Expand the earlier milestones for more history.
Azure annual sales exceed $100B
Microsoft reports the fiscal-year milestone, alongside more than 30M paid Microsoft 365 Copilot seats. Seats are an adoption measure, not revenue.
Source: MicrosoftRevises the OpenAI partnership
Microsoft’s model license becomes non-exclusive; OpenAI gains flexibility to serve products across clouds while revenue-sharing terms continue under a cap.
Source: OpenAI / Microsoft
Show earlier milestonesHide earlier milestones2025–1975 · 7 milestones
Earlier revenue, financing and company milestones.
Azure annual revenue exceeds $75B
Fiscal 2025 Azure revenue rises 34%; this is the first disclosure of Azure’s annual sales at this scale, rather than total Microsoft Cloud sales.
Source: Microsoft annual reportAI business passes a $13B annual run rate
Microsoft reports 175% year-over-year growth in its AI business’s annualized revenue. This is not the same scope as Azure’s full-year sales.
Source: MicrosoftIntroduces Microsoft 365 Copilot
Generative AI enters Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams workflows, creating a new commercial software offering.
Source: MicrosoftExpands its OpenAI investment
The companies announce a multiyear, multibillion-dollar extension of the partnership begun in 2019.
Source: OpenAIInvests $1B in OpenAI
The initial multiyear agreement links OpenAI’s research with Azure AI supercomputing infrastructure.
Source: MicrosoftCompletes the LinkedIn acquisition
The professional network joins Microsoft, expanding its business software, data and distribution ecosystem.
Source: LinkedInMicrosoft is founded
The software company later expands from personal computing into enterprise software, cloud infrastructure and AI.
Source: Microsoft
The latest on Microsoft
Newest firstRelated reporting
Briefs, articles and relevant sections, newest first. Explore older coverage below.
More coverage
Inside Nscale’s 18-Month Revolution: How a Former Mining Firm Became the Infrastructure of Intelligence
It appeared quietly, almost unnoticed at first, a headline that seemed too technical for most readers yet one that quietly reshaped global AI infrastructure. Yesterday, a
Mind Commands Reality
Plus: n8n Hits $2.5B, Retail’s AI Gold Rush
The Company That IPO’d With Nothing and Won Everything
Fermi does not sell power yet. It sells the idea of owning the grid.
Aice Cream
Plus: Gaming Coach, Forecasting Becomes Profit Engine
Nvidia’s Next $4 Trillion Bet
The Cloud Dream Never Died, It Just Changed Shape
The Breakpoint: OpenAI Rewrites Its Future with Microsoft
For nearly a decade, OpenAI has lived inside a paradox. It was founded in 2015 as a nonprofit meant to “benefit all of humanity,” funded by
From Databases to the Top of the Rich List: How Oracle’s AI Bet Crowned Ellison
For a brief, surreal moment this September, Larry Ellison stood at the summit of global wealth. Oracle’s co-founder — long caricatured as a swashbuckling yachtsman billionaire
RRR Is the New ARR: How Anthropic Sold $5B of Acceleration
Anthropic just raised $13 billion at a $183 billion valuation, and the number it chose to headline the pitch wasn’t ARR, wasn’t NRR, wasn’
The VibeVoice War
Plus: Robots Do Chores, Consumer AI Therapy