The Trump administration, apprehensive of potential security issues, has reportedly asked OpenAI to stagger the release of its next big-ticket model, GPT-5.6.

The Information reported that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told employees Wednesday in a company Q&A that it would release GPT-5.6 in limited preview form - granting access only to a small group of enterprise customers - in compliance with a request from the federal government. During that preview period, the Trump administration itself would reportedly approve access for customers on a case-by-case basis.

It's a more favorable deal than the Trump administration gave OpenAI rival Anthropic …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Anyone considering buying an XBOX console might want to consider doing so sooner than they first planned. Microsoft has announced that prices will be increasing significantly at the start of August. The cost of buying either a 512 GB XBOX or a 1TB model is increasing in response to rising memory prices. Microsoft’s announcement also sees the company saying that it is killing off the 2TB XBOX. In a blog post, Microsoft says: “Effective August 1, 2026, we will be updating prices worldwide. The price of XBOX consoles will increase by US$100 for 512 GB models and US$150 for 1… [Continue Reading]

Amazon, Microsoft and other leading tech companies are joining a new nonpartisan workforce organization launched Thursday aimed at helping American workers navigate the transition to an AI-driven economy.

RAISE US aims to partner with governors, employers, and training organizations to retrain and redeploy workers displaced or affected by AI, with a goal of raising $1 billion in multi-year commitments — more than half of which has already been secured.

The organization is led by former U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who will serve as CEO, and former Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, who will serve as co-chair. The two are pitching the effort as explicitly bipartisan.

“If we build the best AI systems in the world and leave millions of Americans behind, we won’t have won anything; we’ll have automated our own decline,” Raimondo said in a news release. “I believe AI will create new jobs and industries over time, but the transition could be disruptive, and it’s already underway.”

Amazon, Anthropic, Microsoft and the OpenAI Foundation are serving as anchor partners. The coalition also includes more than two dozen companies and philanthropies, among them IBM, Cisco, General Motors, Mastercard, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Pivotal, the organization founded by Melinda French Gates. Initial state partnerships include Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland, and Utah.

The launch of RAISE US comes amid layoffs and cost-cutting across the tech industry and widespread anxiety — from workers to recent graduates — about AI’s impact on employment. Some employers, including Meta, have cited AI as a reason for cuts, including in Washington state. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy blamed massive layoffs that started last year on a culture correction at the tech giant rather than being AI-driven.

In a blog post Thursday, Amazon Chief Global Affairs & Legal Officer David Zapolsky said investment in workers must keep pace with the technology.

“The transition to an AI-driven economy will create enormous opportunity, but only if we invest now in helping workers develop the skills to seize it,” Zapolsky wrote.

Zapolsky cited Amazon’s own efforts to prepare workers for the AI economy, including its Career Choice program, which has helped more than 300,000 employees earn degrees and certificates over 14 years, and a broader $2.5 billion commitment to skills training through its Future Ready 2030 initiative.

Microsoft said it has already been piloting a model for the kind of worker transition RAISE US aims to scale — cross-training entry-level lawyers across different parts of the organization and equipping them with AI skills so they can be repositioned as technology evolves, The New York Times reported.

“It creates an opportunity to transfer people from jobs that are being eliminated to jobs that are being created,” Microsoft President Brad Smith told the Times.

Apple is hiking prices in response to the ongoing memory shortage. On Thursday, the company adjusted the price of its new MacBook Neo, which will now start at $699 instead of $599, while the base MacBook Air will jump to $1,299 from $1,099, as reported earlier by Bloomberg.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro is getting an increase as well, going from $1,699 to $1,999. Meanwhile, the iPad Air will now start at $749 instead of $599, while the iPad Pro is increasing to $1,199 from $999. As spotted by MacRumors, the M4 Max Mac Studio will now cost $2,499, a big jump from $1,999. The M3 Ultra Mac Studio is now priced at $5,299, up from $3,999.

Apple is e …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Ryan sits down with Anish Agarwal, CEO and co-founder of Traversal, to chat about why AI coding agents have made writing code easier but running it safely in production harder, why production failures are really caused by interactions between systems and not just the code itself, and how teams can troubleshoot more effectively when traditional observability tools are not enough for agentic AI workflows.​​​​‌‍​‍​‍‌‍‌​‍‌‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‍‌‌‍‍​‍​‍​‍‍​‍​‍‌​‌‍​‌‌‍‍‌‍‍‌‌‌​‌‍‌​‍‍‌‍‍‌‌‍​‍​‍​‍​​‍​‍‌‍‍​‌​‍‌‍‌‌‌‍‌‍​‍​‍​‍‍​‍​‍‌‍‍​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‍‍​‍​‍‌‍​‌‍‌‌​​‍‍‌​‌‌​‌‍​‌‌‍​‌‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‌‍‌‌‌​‍‌‍‌‍‌‍​‌‍‌‌​‍‍‌‍​‌‍​‍‌‍‍‌‌‍‍‌‌​‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‌​​‍‌‍‌‌‌‍‌​‌‍‍‌‌‌​​‍‌‍‌‌‍‌‍‌​‌‍‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌‍‌‌‌​‌‍‌‌‌‍‍‌‌​‌‍​‌‌‌​‌‍‍‌‌‍‌‍‍​‍‌‍‍‌‌‍‌​​‌‌‍‌‍​‍​​​‌‍‌‌‌‍​‍​‌‌‌‍‌‍​​​​‍‌​​‌​​‍​​​‌​‍‌​‌​​‍​​‌‌‍‌‍​‍‌​‍​​‌​‌‍‌​​‍​​‍‌‌‍‌‍​‌‌‍​‌‌‍​‍‌‍‌‍​​‍​​​​‌​‍​‌‍​​​​‍‌​‍‌‌​‌‍‌‌​​‌‍‌‌​‌‌‍​‍‌‍​‌‍‌‍‌‌‌​​‌‍‌​‌‌​​‍‌​​‌‍​‌‌‌​‌‍‍​​‌‌‍‌‌‌‍​‌‍​‌‍‌‌‌​‍‌​​‌‌​​‌‍​‍‌‍​‌‌​‌‍‌‌‌‌‌‌‌​‍‌‍​​‌‌‍‍​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‍‌‌​​‌​​‌​‍‌‌​​‍‌​‌‍​‍‌‌​​‍‌​‌‍‌‍​‌‍‌‌​​‍‍‌​‌‌​‌‍​‌‌‍​‌‍‍‌‍‌‌‍‌‍‌‌‌​‍‌‍‌‍‌‍​‌‍‌‌​‍‍‌‍​‌‍​‍‌‍‌‍‍‌‌‍‌​​‌‌‍‌‍​‍​​​‌‍‌‌‌‍​‍​‌‌‌‍‌‍​​​​‍‌​​‌​​‍​​​‌​‍‌​‌​​‍​​‌‌‍‌‍​‍‌​‍​​‌​‌‍‌​​‍​​‍‌‌‍‌‍​‌‌‍​‌‌‍​‍‌‍‌‍​​‍​​​​‌​‍​‌‍​​​​‍‌​‍‌‍‌‌​‌‍‌‌​​‌‍‌‌​‌‌‍​‍‌‍​‌‍‌‍‌‌‌​​‌‍‌​‌‌​​‍‌‍‌​​‌‍​‌‌‌​‌‍‍​​‌‌‍‌‌‌‍​‌‍​‌‍‌‌‌​‍‌​​‌‌​​‍‌‍‌​​‌‍‌‌‌​‍‌​‌​​‌‍‌‌‌‍​‌‌​‌‍‍‌‌‌‍‌‍‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌‌‍​‍‌‍​‌‍‍‌‌​‌‍‍​‌‍‌‌‌‍‌​​‍​‍‌‌

Plenty of AI tools claim to be built for finance; Microsoft 365 Copilot in Excel is proving it in practice.

The post Copilot in Excel: Built for the era of Frontier Finance appeared first on Microsoft 365 Blog.