"Microsoft had also cultivated a relationship with the government that is among the deepest of any tech company"

That is like bragging that you are really good at disposing of bodies, but not really wanting to talk about how you got so good.

I have an android phone. Gemini somehow installed without my permission. I have never touched it. Is Google counting me as a user?

If these numbers might move stock prices, the word fraud comes to mind. Faking user counts these days really isn't any better than falsifying the accounting. It is about the same as reporting fake revenue and fake profits.

An iPhone is designed for personal use. It was never designed to have 1000's of these things (or more) 100% owned and 100% centrally managed by a company.

Companies supply "work phones" for a reason. You really don't want all your employees in key supplier or customer facing roles to be working on a privately controlled phone number and device (and sometimes private email addresses/messaging services). Don't even get into all the data retention legal issues when people discuss non-public information on devices that can personally wipe.

Computer. Cure Cancer.

DONE!

A lot of factories run on a 10% or less Net Profit. These guys have to raise prices or go under. Apple is going from an obscene profit to a profit that 99% of the world can only dream about.

Apple could easily eat the cost increase, but when pure greed drives every business decision....

How much of "The Art of Computer Programming" by Donald Knuth is programming and how much looks a lot like pure math? What percentage of Computer Science grads can even read and understand book one?

We need two degrees. A vocation "programming" degree and college/university degree in "Computer Science."

The case was won on a technicality. The core issue was never really addressed.

Other than MBAs, I can't think anyone with a masters... If you aren't going to make PhD at Standford, Harvard, etc. in the hard sciences, they give you a masters and tell you "nice try, now please move along." People either do a PhD (free because you are teaching or doing research) or start working after their BS. After four years of undergrad, you should have the tools you need. If you don't know something, you should be able to quickly teach yourself. A PhD means you can say you are the world's leading expert in something very narrow, and you were the the first person to find/discover/explain/prove/etc. something new. Very cool!

Someone is anthropomorphizing.

This is a good way to grow. The old "the first hit is free" model. However, in this scenario, the AI companies should give their product away for free and recognize no revenue. They can report active users per month or something similar. Subsiding the sales and then recognizing the revenue feels like fraud.

Does it really take $1.25 billion in opex to give away $9 billion? WOW!

$1.25 billion get you 5,000 employees making 250k each. At a charity???? (I know. There is also coffee, insurance, rent, lawyers, etc.)

Who on earth is running this place? Oh. Wait...

It's genius. Say the product is too dangerous, and you can't have it. Have the few people who actual touch it sign NDAs.

Sit back watch the news go wild.

Company valuation jumps.

The CIA is running Chinese language ads looking for spies.
https://www.theguardian.com/us...

The US will pay very good money for secrets.

These guys could have quietly cut a deal with the NSA/CIA. Now that China knows to look for them, they better watch their backs. Talk about poking the dragon.

those in power will want it to go away.