Microsoft Probes Teams, Outlook Outage as Thousands of Users Report Disruption

A view shows a Microsoft logo at Microsoft France headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, January 25, 2023. (Reuters)
A view shows a Microsoft logo at Microsoft France headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, January 25, 2023. (Reuters)
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Microsoft Probes Teams, Outlook Outage as Thousands of Users Report Disruption

A view shows a Microsoft logo at Microsoft France headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, January 25, 2023. (Reuters)
A view shows a Microsoft logo at Microsoft France headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, January 25, 2023. (Reuters)

Microsoft Corp said on Wednesday it was investigating a networking issue that impacted multiple services including Teams and Outlook, with outage reports saying the platforms were down for thousands of users globally.

Microsoft did not disclose the number of users affected by the disruption, but data from outage tracking website Downdetector showed more than 3,900 incidents in India and over 900 in Japan. Outage reports also spiked in Australia, Britain and the United Arab Emirates.

The Downdetector site tracks outages by collating status reports from sources including user-submitted errors on its platform.

"We've identified a potential networking issue and are reviewing telemetry to determine the next troubleshooting steps," Microsoft said in a tweet.

Microsoft's cloud unit Azure also tweeted about the networking issue, and said that a subset of users were experiencing problems with the platform.

During the outage, most users were unable to exchange messages, join calls or use any features of Teams application. Many users took to Twitter to share updates about the service disruption, with #MicrosoftTeams trending as a hashtag on the social media site.

Microsoft Teams, used by more than 280 million people globally, forms an integral part of daily operations for businesses and schools, which use the service to make calls, schedule meetings and organize their workflow.

Among the other services affected were Microsoft Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, according to the company's status page.



Canada's Cohere, Germany's Aleph Alpha Reportedly in Merger Talks

FILE PHOTO: AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration created on June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration created on June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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Canada's Cohere, Germany's Aleph Alpha Reportedly in Merger Talks

FILE PHOTO: AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration created on June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: AI (Artificial Intelligence) letters and robot hand are placed on computer motherboard in this illustration created on June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Artificial intelligence companies Cohere of Canada and Aleph Alpha of Germany are in talks to merge and have Berlin's support for a potential deal, newspaper Handelsblatt reported late on Thursday.

Citing government and industry sources, the paper said the German government would be willing to become a key customer of a combined company, part of a push to provide digital public services.

"If leading AI companies from Canada and Germany were to join forces that would send a very strong signal," German Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger told the ⁠paper.

Germany and Canada ⁠were already collaborating closely in the field, he was also quoted as saying.

Aleph Alpha told Reuters that regular discussions over strategic partnerships were standard practice in the AI industry and that Aleph Alpha had its own independent strategy, declining to comment further.

Cohere said it meets "with companies and institutions ⁠across Germany and Europe and continually evaluates strategic opportunities that support our global growth."

It also pointed Reuters to its international expansion efforts as well as to the Canadian-German Sovereign Technology Alliance agreed this year, but would not comment further.

Germany's research and digital ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Handelsblatt said merger talks started early this year and had reached an advanced stage, with plans for the new entity to be headquartered in both countries.

Germany has been eager to catch ⁠up with ⁠dominant AI players the US and China in a global race to master a transformational technology and attract high-income jobs. India has also emerged as a contender.

Last month, Berlin unveiled plans to encourage investments to boost AI data processing capacity at least fourfold by 2030.

Microsoft, which is collaborating with Cohere, unveiled $23 billion in AI investments in December, with the bulk earmarked for India and parts for Canada.

That was after Alphabet's Google said it would spend $15 billion over five years on an AI data center in India.


Apple Reportedly Leads Global Smartphone Shipments in 1st Quarter

FILE PHOTO: The Apple logo is seen during the preview of the redesigned and reimagined Apple Fifth Avenue store in New York, US, September 19, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The Apple logo is seen during the preview of the redesigned and reimagined Apple Fifth Avenue store in New York, US, September 19, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
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Apple Reportedly Leads Global Smartphone Shipments in 1st Quarter

FILE PHOTO: The Apple logo is seen during the preview of the redesigned and reimagined Apple Fifth Avenue store in New York, US, September 19, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The Apple logo is seen during the preview of the redesigned and reimagined Apple Fifth Avenue store in New York, US, September 19, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

iPhone-maker Apple led smartphone shipments in the first quarter, growing 5% year-on-year, ⁠even as overall ⁠global shipments remained ⁠under pressure due to a shortage of memory components and weak consumer sentiment, Counterpoint Research ⁠said ⁠on Friday.

Apple said on Thursday that it will shut down its retail store in Towson, Maryland, the first of its US locations where retail employees successfully unionized in 2022.

It described the decision as "difficult", citing the departure of several retailers and worsening conditions at the Towson Town Center mall as key reasons for the closure.

Apple said Towson employees will ⁠be eligible to ⁠apply for open roles at the company.

In 2022, more than 100 Apple workers in Towson voted to join the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAM) union, marking a milestone ⁠for unionization at major US corporations such as Amazon.com and Starbucks.

Around the same time, a similar union drive in Atlanta was withdrawn, with Apple workers alleging intimidation.


Saudi Day of Digital Transformation and AI at World Bank Focuses on Global AI Governance

The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) and the Digital Government Authority, in cooperation with the World Bank Group, organized the “Saudi Day of Digital Transformation and Artificial Intelligence. (SPA)
The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) and the Digital Government Authority, in cooperation with the World Bank Group, organized the “Saudi Day of Digital Transformation and Artificial Intelligence. (SPA)
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Saudi Day of Digital Transformation and AI at World Bank Focuses on Global AI Governance

The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) and the Digital Government Authority, in cooperation with the World Bank Group, organized the “Saudi Day of Digital Transformation and Artificial Intelligence. (SPA)
The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) and the Digital Government Authority, in cooperation with the World Bank Group, organized the “Saudi Day of Digital Transformation and Artificial Intelligence. (SPA)

The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) and the Digital Government Authority, in cooperation with the World Bank Group, organized the “Saudi Day of Digital Transformation and Artificial Intelligence” on Thursday at the World Bank Group headquarters in Washington.

The event brought together speakers from government entities, international experts, and academics, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday.

The event aimed to exchange expertise and best practices in AI and digital transformation, strengthen institutional cooperation, and review the latest initiatives and technologies supporting the development and efficiency of government services, thereby reinforcing the Kingdom’s global standing and leadership.

The sessions discussed the future of AI governance worldwide, prospects for developing regulatory frameworks, and the importance of expanding international cooperation to advance ethical and trustworthy practices for AI applications.

During the event, the Kingdom also highlighted several of its achievements in digital transformation, data, and AI.