Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is planning new rounds of layoffs for sometime this month, November, and January, according to Fortune. In July, as part of an organizational "reset," Sharma announced planned layoffs affecting 3,200 staffers over the course of Microsoft's 2027 fiscal year, including 1,600 cuts at that time, and in September, Microsoft laid off around 260 employees. Sharma's changes have also included letting Double Fine and Compulsion Games become independent again, though Senua developer Ninja Theory may close.
The report also touches on speculation that Xbox may be spun off or sold, and Judson Althoff, the CEO of Microsoft's commerci …
Microsoft is reportedly planning to launch an Xbox "next-generation handheld device" for the holiday season of 2027. The Xbox next-gen console, codename Project Helix, would then launch in the holidays of 2028, according to a new report from Fortune.
The report doesn't make it clear whether the handheld would be made by a manufacturer like Asus, or by Microsoft itself. Xbox teamed up with Asus for its Xbox Ally devices, which ran a modified version of Windows 11 with an Xbox mode enabled. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has also described Project Helix as a "family of devices," suggesting that Microsoft's next Xbox console may not be just one piece of …
Meta says it paused a Muse feature that lets you share conversations with the AI assistant after researchers found the URLs publicly available on the web, as reported by Ars Technica. In a report published this week, researchers at the security firm Claroc say they found more than 6,800 Muse links through public DNS records.
"People have the ability to share specific Muse artifacts, which creates a page that can be accessed by those with the link," Muse spokesperson Tracy Clayton says in an emailed statement to The Verge. "However, we've paused this functionality while we review this report and consider changes to how these links can be dis …
OpenBSD 8.0 has been released with major virtualization and hardware upgrades, including support for up to 64 vCPUs per VM, Intel Arc graphics, ARM64 hibernation, and expanded RISC-V support. Linuxiac points out that it marks the "61st release of the security-focused Unix-like operating system." From the report: Several fixes improve compatibility with 32-bit Linux guests, while changes to virtual machine ownership management and interrupt emulation make the virtualization infrastructure more capable. Graphics support has also been upgraded, with DRM drivers updated to those from Linux kernel 6.18.53. Notably, OpenBSD 8.0 adds support for Intel Arc A-Series (Alchemist) graphics cards through the inteldrm driver.
Another important change increases the amd64 kernel's virtual address space from 4 GB to 512 GB, allowing the system to map over 4 GB of video memory. The release also addresses GPU timeout issues affecting some Intel Alder Lake systems. [...] For security, OpenBSD 8.0 adds checks and fixes across the kernel and system utilities, including improvements to pledge and unveil, tighter validation of executable files, and protections against memory corruption and information disclosure. A full list of changes can be found here.
Further reading: Wine Ported to OpenBSD
Employees work on a soldering project during a workshop in a Microsoft Garage space. Microsoft is winding down The Garage as a companywide program, and some spaces could be restricted as early as this week. (Microsoft Photo)
Microsoft is winding down The Garage as a companywide program, ending a 17-year run for the effort that gave employees space and tools for side projects and ran the company’s Global Hackathon, according to an internal FAQ viewed by GeekWire.
The program, with a flagship location on Microsoft’s Redmond campus and more than a dozen other sites from Vancouver, B.C., to Beijing, became part of the company’s push for a more experimental culture under Satya Nadella, who took over as CEO in 2014.
In the FAQ, Microsoft says the experimentation that started in dedicated programs and spaces like The Garage now happens “every day within each of our teams,” as employees build new skills and adopt new tools in their regular work. The FAQ says the company is “reinventing how we foster innovation, learning, and experimentation” across Microsoft.
The move comes as Microsoft spends heavily on AI, much of it for data centers and other infrastructure, while cutting costs and jobs in other parts of the business.
“We regularly evaluate how we use our physical spaces to best support our employees, customers and partners,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement. “As part of that ongoing work, we’re making changes to some Garage spaces. Innovation and a builder mindset remain central to how we work every day.”
The company declined to comment further, including on the effect on Garage employees.
The Garage will no longer operate “as a centralized function,” according to the FAQ, and the impact on each physical space “will vary by location.” Some Garage spaces could be restricted as early as Friday, Oct. 23. Neither the FAQ nor Microsoft’s statement says which spaces are affected, including the flagship location in Redmond. Employees can’t take equipment, tools or materials with them.
The future of the Global Hackathon is also unsettled. The FAQ says the hackathon team is “reimagining the program” and that Microsoft will have more to share later.
Microsoft’s public Garage website, which showcased hackathon projects and experimental apps, was redirecting to the Microsoft homepage as of Tuesday morning.
A Microsoft map shows The Garage’s 15 locations as of 2026. Microsoft hasn’t said which of them will be affected as it winds down the program. (Microsoft Graphic)
From Office Labs to companywide: The Garage started in 2009 inside Microsoft’s Office Labs group in Redmond, with the slogan “Doers. Not Talkers.” The idea was to support employees who were already building their own projects, rather than collecting ideas and funding the most popular ones.
The program took on a bigger role under Nadella. In July 2014, The Garage ran Microsoft’s first companywide hackathon, which drew more than 11,000 registrants from 80 countries. The event became an annual fixture of Microsoft’s culture.
The Garage also released experimental apps to the public, including Mouse without Borders, a tool for controlling multiple PCs with one keyboard and mouse, and Arrow Launcher, which became Microsoft Launcher for Android.
As of this year, Microsoft listed Garage locations in 15 regions, including Redmond, Vancouver, B.C., the Bay Area, New York City, Ireland, Israel, India and Beijing.
Employee reaction: On Blind, the anonymous workplace app that verifies users’ employers, a post titled “Amy kills the Garage” drew more than 70 comments. The poster attributed the move to cost-cutting by Microsoft CFO Amy Hood.
Another employee wrote that The Garage was where they met their friends on campus and made connections that advanced their career.
“The Garage offices were one of the last few cool things about Microsoft,” one commenter wrote.
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