Microsoft Archives - Tech | Business | Economy https://techeconomy.ng/tag/microsoft/ Tech | Business | Economy Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:00:05 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.2 https://techeconomy.ng/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/cropped-techeconomy-logo-32x32.jpeg Microsoft Archives - Tech | Business | Economy https://techeconomy.ng/tag/microsoft/ 32 32 199702177 Cassava Technologies Expands Africa’s Cloud Infrastructure with Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute Metro in Johannesburg https://techeconomy.ng/cassava-technologies-microsoft-azure-expressroute-metro-johannesburg/ https://techeconomy.ng/cassava-technologies-microsoft-azure-expressroute-metro-johannesburg/#respond Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:00:05 +0000 https://techeconomy.ng/?p=185590 Cassava Technologies has expanded Africa's cloud infrastructure after Johannesburg became the continent's first Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute Metro peering location.

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Cassava Technologies has strengthened Africa’s cloud infrastructure after Microsoft designated Africa Data Centres as an Azure ExpressRoute Metro peering location in Johannesburg. 

The development makes Johannesburg the first ExpressRoute Metro location on the continent and gives businesses access to more resilient and secure cloud connectivity.

The designation means organisations can connect privately to Microsoft Azure through two peering locations within the Johannesburg metropolitan area. That built-in redundancy helps reduce the risk of service disruption for critical applications and workloads.

Africa Data Centres’ JHB1 facility now serves as the second peering location in Johannesburg to provide local ExpressRoute Metro capability. With Johannesburg joining a small group of global technology hubs offering the service, businesses operating in South Africa can strengthen business continuity while improving the reliability of their cloud services.

Cassava will deliver the service through its cloud and cybersecurity business, Liquid C2. Using its network presence across both peering locations, Liquid C2 will provide Secure CloudConnect, a managed service that combines private cloud connectivity with integrated cybersecurity for organisations using Microsoft Azure.

Ziaad Suleman, senior vice president of Cassava Technologies South Africa and Botswana, said the designation of Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute Metro is an important step for both the company and Africa’s digital infrastructure.

Being designated a Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute Metro peering location is a defining moment for Africa Data Centres as well as for Africa’s digital infrastructure. It reflects growing confidence in the continent’s ability to support the next generation of cloud and AI-driven services while demonstrating the strength of our One Cassava model. 

“By combining the infrastructure capabilities of Africa Data Centres with the cloud and cyber security expertise of Liquid C2, we are providing organisations with the resilient, secure, and trusted digital foundation they need to accelerate innovation and growth.”

The launch also comes as regulators place greater focus on operational resilience, business continuity, risk management and data protection. Cassava said Secure CloudConnect is designed to help organisations strengthen security, reduce the risk of downtime and simplify the management of increasingly complex cloud environments while supporting compliance requirements.

Customers will also work with a single provider for cloud connectivity and security services while running business-critical operations on infrastructure built for high availability.

Vukani Mngxati, CEO of Microsoft South Africa, said the new capability will support the country’s growing demand for trusted cloud infrastructure.

South Africa isn’t waiting for the AI era – it’s helping to shape it, and that ambition rests on digital infrastructure the country can trust. With Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute Metro now available in Johannesburg, organisations across South Africa gain a more resilient and secure path to the cloud for their most critical workloads. 

“When businesses can build on trusted, resilient foundations, they can move faster, compete on the global stage, and turn South Africa’s digital ambition into real economic impact. We are proud to work with Cassava Technologies to help make that happen.”

The deployment also strengthens Cassava Technologies’ growth in Africa’s cloud infrastructure market as demand grows for secure, high-performance digital services. 

Combining the data centre of Africa Data Centres with the cloud and cybersecurity services of Liquid C2 will help achieve the company’s plan to enable businesses across the continent build more resilient cloud environments while supporting digital transformation.

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IBM Shares Plunge After Revenue Miss as Customers Shift Spending to AI Hardware https://techeconomy.ng/ibm-shares-plunge-revenue-misses-estimates-software-spending/ https://techeconomy.ng/ibm-shares-plunge-revenue-misses-estimates-software-spending/#respond Tue, 14 Jul 2026 21:10:31 +0000 https://techeconomy.ng/?p=185355 IBM shares tumbled in premarket trading after the company projected second-quarter revenue below analysts' expectations

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IBM shares dropped sharply in premarket trading on Tuesday after the company warned that customers had redirected spending from software to data centre hardware.

Pushing its second-quarter revenue below market expectations, the company’s stock was down about 23% before the opening bell after IBM released preliminary quarterly results that missed analysts’ forecasts.

The decline also weighed on the entire software sector, with Dow futures falling and the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF losing more than 4%.

IBM now expects second-quarter revenue of $17.2 billion, below the $17.86 billion analysts surveyed by LSEG had projected. Adjusted earnings per share are expected to reach $2.93, missing estimates of $3.02.

Chief Executive Officer Arvind Krishna admitted the company had failed to respond quickly enough to changing customer spending priorities.

This quarter we faltered.”

He added: “We did not adapt and move quickly enough, and numerous large deals failed to close on the timelines we expected, driving the majority of our shortfall.”

Krishna said IBM noticed a big shift in customer spending during the final weeks of June.

In the last few weeks of June, we saw clients shift their quarterly capex spend toward servers, storage, and memory purchases to secure supply-constrained infrastructure ahead of expected price increases.”

He also said the company had expected some disruption from supply chain challenges but underestimated the scale of the change.

While we anticipated some supply-chain related impact in our expectations, we did not anticipate the magnitude of the capex reprioritisation.”

The transition shows surging demand for hardware used in artificial intelligence systems. A global shortage of memory chips has also added to the problem.

Since late 2025, hardware prices have increased after major memory manufacturers, including Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron, directed more production towards specialised chips for AI data centres.

Much of that capacity has already been committed under long-term contracts, tightening supply for conventional servers, personal computers and smartphones.

Micron has previously warned that supply limitations are likely to continue.

“tight conditions to persist beyond calendar 2027 as a result of AI-driven demand across all segments coupled with structural supply constraints.”

IBM said revenue in its infrastructure business fell 7% during the quarter, even though total company revenue increased by 1% from a year earlier.

The disappointing update also hit other software companies. Microsoft, ServiceNow, Salesforce and Intuit each fell between 3% and 5% in premarket trading.

Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG Group, said investors are now watching closely to see how long businesses continue directing more of their technology budgets towards hardware and cybersecurity instead of software.

IBM is scheduled to release its full second-quarter financial results on July 22.

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Microsoft Launches $2.5bn AI Unit With 6,000 Staff to Drive Enterprise AI Deployment https://techeconomy.ng/microsoft-2-5bn-frontier-company-ai-unit-enterprise-deployment/ https://techeconomy.ng/microsoft-2-5bn-frontier-company-ai-unit-enterprise-deployment/#respond Thu, 02 Jul 2026 16:55:28 +0000 https://techeconomy.ng/?p=184754 Microsoft has launched a new $2.5 billion Frontier Company unit, deploying 6,000 staff directly into client organisations to speed up enterprise AI adoption and implementation.

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Microsoft has launched a new business unit that will focus on helping companies deploy artificial intelligence at scale, committing $2.5 billion and assigning about 6,000 staff to work directly inside customer organisations.

The AI deployment unit, called Microsoft Frontier Company, will bring together engineers, consultants, sales staff and industry specialists.

They will sit with clients, design systems with them, and support ongoing AI deployment inside business operations.

Judson Althoff, who leads Microsoft’s commercial business, said the company is building something larger than typical deployment teams.

This goes beyond what has been labelled as Forward-Deployed Engineering (FDE),” he said, “and will be the largest, most capable, outcome-driven engineering organisation in the industry.”

The model is not entirely new in the tech sector as Amazon Web Services recently committed about $1 billion to a similar structure focused on AI deployments.

Other AI firms have also moved in the same direction, with OpenAI and Anthropic both setting up forward-deployed engineering teams in recent months, usually working with consultants and private capital partners.

Microsoft’s approach leans heavily on embedding staff inside large enterprises already using its cloud systems. The company says this gives it a head start in industries where it already has strong relationships.

Early deployments include work with financial data provider London Stock Exchange Group, consumer goods firm Unilever, and food company Land O’Lakes. Microsoft also mentioned healthcare company Novo Nordisk among early adopters.

At the London Stock Exchange Group, Microsoft engineers helped build AI features into its Workspace platform. The system allows users to ask complex questions and receive answers drawn from both structured and unstructured financial data.

Microsoft says the system continues to improve as users interact with it.

Althoff also noted that customers are now asking more questions about how AI should fit into their operations. He said firms are no longer just asking what the tools can do, but how to structure their entire workflows around them.

He also pointed to challenges in the market. Companies are still deciding whether to commit to a single model provider or mix several systems depending on use cases.

Microsoft argues for flexibility, saying customers should be able to use different AI models depending on need, without locking themselves into one ecosystem.

The company described its platform as “model-diverse” and said customers should not be tied to one vendor. Instead, organisations should be able to choose between models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft’s own systems, open-source options, or industry-specific tools.

Placing data control at the forefront, Microsoft says customer information will not be used in ways that weaken competitive advantage.

There is no societal permission for an AI future that eats the intelligence of the companies it’s deployed inside,” Satya Nadella said.

Microsoft says this principle affects how the new unit will operate, customer data and intellectual property will remain protected and separate from model training in ways that could expose proprietary information.

The company has long worked with enterprise clients through consulting and support services, but it says this new structure goes further. It combines engineering, industry knowledge, and continuous deployment in one operating model.

Rodrigo Kede Lima will lead the new unit, having spent three decades in the technology sector and previously led Microsoft’s business across Asia as well as parts of the Americas.

He has also worked closely with enterprise customers on large-scale digital transformation projects.

Microsoft has been investing heavily in artificial intelligence infrastructure and has built large data centre capacity, rolling out products such as Microsoft 365 Copilot and GitHub Copilot, though adoption has varied across markets.

The tech giant has not hidden the uneven pace of uptake. Some AI tools have spread fast, while others have found it difficult to gain broad use in enterprise settings.

Companies are spending heavily on AI infrastructure, but many are still working out how to turn that investment into steady returns.

Microsoft’s commercial services generated about $2.1 billion in the March quarter, growing slightly from the previous year. The company says its strongest results come when it works closely with clients to build what it calls an “intelligence platform” around their existing systems.

That means helping firms connect data, manage models, and track performance across business units.

Microsoft says the goal of establishing the unit is not just AI deployment but ongoing adjustment, where systems are refined based on how they perform inside real operations.

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Microsoft To Cut About 5,000 Jobs As AI Spending Increases https://techeconomy.ng/microsoft-cuts-5000-jobs-ai-investment-2026/ https://techeconomy.ng/microsoft-cuts-5000-jobs-ai-investment-2026/#respond Wed, 01 Jul 2026 10:31:59 +0000 https://techeconomy.ng/?p=184600 Microsoft is preparing to cut fewer than 2.5% of its global workforce, or about 5,000 jobs, in a new round of layoffs expected next week

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Microsoft is preparing to cut thousands of jobs in another round of layoffs that could be announced as early as next week.

This comes as the company focuses on reducing costs while increasing investment in artificial intelligence.

According to people familiar with the plans, the cuts will affect fewer than 2.5% of Microsoft’s global workforce. With about 220,000 employees worldwide, that would amount to approximately 5,000 roles.

The layoffs will affect several parts of the business, including sales, consulting and the Xbox gaming division. One person familiar with the matter said some affected employees could be offered other roles within the company immediately after the announcement.

Microsoft has not commented on the reports.

The company has regularly taken decisions on its workforce at the start of a new financial year. In May last year, Microsoft cut about 6,000 jobs before announcing another round of roughly 9,000 layoffs in July, representing nearly 4% of its workforce.

This latest round is expected to be smaller than last year’s exercise. People familiar with the matter said the company had already reduced the number of compulsory layoffs after many eligible employees accepted a voluntary retirement programme introduced earlier this year in the United States.

The programme was open to employees at level 67 and below who met the company’s age and service requirements. Sales staff on commission-based pay were excluded from the offer.

The planned cuts come as Microsoft spends heavily on AI and cloud infrastructure. Reports say the company invested more than $100 billion in AI and cloud projects during the 2026 financial year, with a large share going towards AI chips and related infrastructure.

The Xbox business is also expected to face significant changes. The gaming division has been under pressure after years of heavy spending on content, hardware and gaming platforms.

Earlier this year, Xbox Gaming Chief Executive Officer Asha Sharma told employees the business needed a “reset”. Reports have also suggested that Microsoft is reviewing parts of its gaming operations, with some studios facing an uncertain future.

Before now, several companies have reduced their workforce this year as they balance AI investment with efforts to control operating costs.

Meta announced plans to cut about 10% of its workforce this year, while Amazon said it would eliminate about 16,000 jobs globally.

Data also shows technology companies in the United States have announced more than 123,000 job cuts in 2026, with growing AI investment being one of the main reasons behind many of the reductions.

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Nigeria Ranks Third in Africa, 17th Globally for AI Readiness, but Business Adoption Lags – Report https://techeconomy.ng/nigeria-ai-readiness-africa-2026-report/ https://techeconomy.ng/nigeria-ai-readiness-africa-2026-report/#respond Fri, 26 Jun 2026 14:58:43 +0000 https://techeconomy.ng/?p=184270 The report says the country's businesses are adopting artificial intelligence far more slowly than its workforce.

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Nigeria has been ranked the third most AI-ready outsourcing destination in Africa, according to the 2026 Ataraxis Global Outsourcing AI Readiness Index.

However, the report says the country’s businesses are adopting artificial intelligence far more slowly than its workforce.

The index placed Nigeria 17th among the world’s 25 leading outsourcing destinations, with an overall score of 49.15 out of 100.

South Africa ranked first in Africa with 66.5 points, followed by Egypt with 49.35, while Nigeria finished just 0.20 points behind Egypt and 1.55 points ahead of Kenya.

One of Nigeria’s strongest performances came in workforce AI literacy, where it ranked sixth globally with a score of 66. Only India, Brazil, the Philippines, Poland and Malaysia scored higher.

The report revealed Nigeria outperformed every other outsourcing destination across Europe, Latin America and the rest of Africa in that category.

However, Nigerian companies have not matched the pace at which workers are adopting AI.

The country scored 34 for enterprise AI adoption, placing it 19th out of the 25 countries assessed. The country ranked ahead of only Ghana, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Uganda and Ethiopia in that category.

According to the index, the 32-point difference between Nigeria’s workforce AI literacy score and enterprise AI adoption score is the widest workforce-to-enterprise gap among all outsourcing destinations covered in the study.

Nigerian workers have embraced AI tools faster than businesses and educational institutions have integrated them into their operations.

The AI readiness report also showed that Nigeria ranked 19th for its AI education pipeline with a score of 41. Combined with weak enterprise adoption, this reduced the country’s overall standing despite its strong workforce performance.

Although Egypt ranked above Nigeria overall, the report noted that Nigeria recorded a much stronger workforce AI literacy score, 66 compared with Egypt’s 50.

Egypt, however, performed better in population AI adoption, enterprise AI adoption and AI education, giving it a slightly higher overall score.

The report also found that Nigeria maintained an advantage over several competing outsourcing destinations. It scored 8.55 points higher than Pakistan and 16.35 points above Bangladesh in overall AI readiness.

The 2026 Ataraxis Global Outsourcing AI Readiness Index measures countries across four areas: population AI adoption, workforce AI literacy, enterprise AI adoption and AI education pipeline.

The study draws on publicly available data and analysis from sources including Microsoft, OpenAI, OECD, LinkedIn, Coursera, GitHub and Cloudflare Radar.

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Microsoft Sued by Shareholders Over Azure Slowdown, AI Spending Disclosures https://techeconomy.ng/shareholders-sued-microsoft-azure-growth-ai-spending/ https://techeconomy.ng/shareholders-sued-microsoft-azure-growth-ai-spending/#respond Tue, 16 Jun 2026 07:31:01 +0000 https://techeconomy.ng/?p=183431 Microsoft has been sued by shareholders who claim the company failed to properly disclose slowing Azure growth and the scale of its AI infrastructure spending.

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Microsoft has been sued by shareholders in the United States after investors accused the company of failing to properly disclose challenges facing its Azure cloud business and the scale of spending required to support its artificial intelligence infrastructure.

The proposed class action was filed in a federal court in Seattle by the City of St. Clair Shores Police and Fire Retirement System, a Michigan pension fund.

The lawsuit names Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella, Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood and other company executives as defendants.

Shareholders claim Microsoft gave investors an incomplete picture of Azure’s performance and the financial demands of its AI expansion between May 1, 2025 and January 28, 2026.

According to the complaint, the company downplayed the impact of high cost infrastructure while overstating the strength of products such as Copilot and the benefits of its partnership with OpenAI.

The case follows a decline in Microsoft’s share price earlier this year. On January 29, the stock fell 10% after the company released its quarterly earnings a day earlier, wiping about $357 billion from its market value. It was Microsoft’s biggest one-day stock market loss in almost six years.

In its fiscal second quarter ended December 2025, Microsoft reported 39% growth in Azure and other cloud services revenue. While that matched analysts’ expectations, it was a slowdown from the 40% growth recorded in the previous quarter.

The company also projected Azure growth of between 37% and 38% for the following quarter.

At the same time, spending still increased. Microsoft reported capital expenditure of $37.5 billion during the quarter, up nearly 66% from a year earlier and well above analysts’ forecast of $34.3 billion.

The lawsuit argues that Azure’s slower growth and the increase in spending were linked to capacity constraints as Microsoft redirected resources towards AI development.

Investors allege the company devoted significant investment to AI infrastructure, research and products such as Copilot without adequately warning shareholders about the financial impact.

Microsoft has invested heavily in AI infrastructure in recent years, including data centres, graphics processing units and custom chips designed to support growing demand for AI services.

Estimates reveal the company’s AI infrastructure spending reached an annualised run rate of roughly $37 billion during the 2026 financial year.

The company’s relationship with OpenAI also features in the lawsuit. Shareholders claim the partnership helped create an impression of sustained growth and competitive strength, while masking challenges within Azure’s underlying business. Microsoft remains OpenAI’s largest investor.

The shareholders sued Microsoft at a time when investors are scrutinising the billions of dollars being spent on AI across the technology industry.

Companies including Amazon and Google are also investing heavily in AI infrastructure, but the lawsuit alleges Microsoft’s disclosures to investors failed to fully reflect the risks and costs involved.

Microsoft has rejected the allegations.

Microsoft stands by the integrity of its public statements and will vigorously defend itself in court,” the company said.

The case seeks to represent investors who bought Microsoft shares during the proposed class period and suffered losses following the stock’s decline in January.

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Microsoft’s Xbox to Initiate “Reset”: Layoffs and Spending Cuts Loom Under New Leadership https://techeconomy.ng/microsoft-xbox-major-layoffs-budget-cuts-revenue-decline/ https://techeconomy.ng/microsoft-xbox-major-layoffs-budget-cuts-revenue-decline/#respond Thu, 11 Jun 2026 08:17:48 +0000 https://techeconomy.ng/?p=183250 Microsoft's Xbox division is planning a major restructuring, with job cuts and spending reductions expected after the company's fiscal year-end as it seeks to improve profitability and revive growth.

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Microsoft’s gaming division, Xbox, is preparing to lay off employees and reduce spending as the company moves to address declining revenue and restructure the business under its new leadership.

According to a Bloomberg report, the layoffs are expected shortly after Microsoft’s fiscal year ends on June 30. While the number of affected employees has not been disclosed, the planned cuts are expected to go beyond staffing, with reductions also being considered across marketing and other operational budgets.

The restructuring will be the first major overhaul since Asha Sharma became chief executive of Xbox in February.

Sharma reportedly outlined the challenges facing the gaming business in an internal message to employees. She said Xbox’s accountability margin had fallen to just 3% despite the company spending more than $20 billion over the past five years on content, platforms and hardware subsidies. During the same period, annual revenue declined by almost $500 million.

The Xbox chief told staff the business would need to rebuild parts of its platform infrastructure and reassess its portfolio in the months ahead. Bloomberg reported that Sharma and Chief Content Officer Matt Booty have described the current period as an “Xbox Reset”, aimed at putting the division on a more sustainable path.

The planned changes come as Xbox works to overcome challenges across several parts of its business. Microsoft’s drive into subscription gaming and cloud services has not delivered the growth needed to offset weaker console sales.

At the same time, the company has faced complaints over a lack of major exclusive titles capable of driving hardware demand.

Growth in Game Pass subscriptions has also stalled. In April, Microsoft cut Game Pass prices and announced that future Call of Duty titles would no longer launch on the service on day one, marking one of the first major strategic changes under Sharma’s leadership.

The company is also dealing with high hardware costs. Reports say increasing component prices have significantly raised storage costs, creating additional pressure on Microsoft’s long-term console plans, including work linked to its next-generation gaming platform, codenamed Helix.

As part of the reset, Xbox is expected to place greater emphasis on its biggest gaming franchises, including Halo, Gears of War and Forza.

The company recently confirmed that upcoming titles such as Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution will not launch on competing platforms including PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, while it focuses on strengthening the Xbox ecosystem.

Microsoft has not publicly commented on the reported layoffs.

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LinkedIn Launches BrandWorks to Expand B2B Advertising With Video, Creator Strategy https://techeconomy.ng/linkedin-brandworks-b2b-advertising-video-creator-strategy/ https://techeconomy.ng/linkedin-brandworks-b2b-advertising-video-creator-strategy/#respond Wed, 10 Jun 2026 12:59:06 +0000 https://techeconomy.ng/?p=183204 LinkedIn has introduced BrandWorks, a new advertising unit designed to grow its B2B marketing business through video content and creator-led campaigns

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LinkedIn has set up a new advertising unit called BrandWorks as it expands further into business-to-business marketing and creator-led campaigns. 

The platform expects the unit to reach an annualised run rate of about $100 million in the next fiscal year, according to a source familiar with the plan.

The Microsoft-owned company introduced BrandWorks internally in March 2026. Since then, the team has expanded by roughly 60%, with new hires coming from TikTok, Meta and X.

It now focuses on building higher-performing campaigns for enterprise clients, including SAP, IBM and ServiceNow.

BrandWorks also runs programmes that link advertisers with creators. One of them, Top Voices 360, supports sponsored content partnerships and has generated over $20 million between May 2025 and May 2026.

We’re developing services that are designed to meet the marketer where they are,” said Alex Josephson, vice president of BrandWorks, who previously built a similar offering called Twitter Next.

LinkedIn is enhancing its focus in B2B advertising, even as it competes with much larger companies in digital ads. Its advertising business brought in $8.2 billion in 2025 and is projected to rise to $9.7 billion in 2026, with a further increase to $11.3 billion expected in 2027.

Even with that growth, LinkedIn is still smaller than Meta and Google in overall ad scale. Still, it has carved out a strong niche, with about 80% of B2B marketing budgets now flowing into search and social platforms.

We estimate that 80% of B2B budgets go into search and social media, with Google and LinkedIn the primary beneficiaries of those B2B dollars,” said Luke Stillman, managing director at trend advisory firm Madison and Wall.

LinkedIn’s ad footprint is also expanding in relative terms. It accounts for about 3.2% of US digital ad spend, 2.4% in the UK, and less than 2% across markets such as Brazil, France, Canada and Germany.

Video has become an important part of its strategy. The company reports that vertical video uploads rose by 36% in 2025. CEO video posts have also increased by 68% over the past two years.

Younger users are driving some of that transition. LinkedIn says Gen Z is its fastest-growing audience, with higher engagement in video content and creator-led posts.

BrandWorks by LinkedIn also supports BrandLink, a video-focused advertising programme. The company expects BrandLink revenue to nearly triple in the current fiscal year, although it has not disclosed the base figure.

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Nvidia Unveils RTX Spark Chip to Bring AI Agents Into Personal PCs https://techeconomy.ng/nvidia-rtx-spark-chip-ai-pcs-launch/ https://techeconomy.ng/nvidia-rtx-spark-chip-ai-pcs-launch/#respond Mon, 01 Jun 2026 14:12:28 +0000 https://techeconomy.ng/?p=182649 Nvidia’s RTX Spark chip brings AI processing directly into personal computers, enabling on-device AI agents, advanced creative tools, and next-generation Windows experiences

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Nvidia has launched RTX Spark, a new computer chip designed to bring artificial intelligence directly into personal laptops and desktop computers.

RTX Spark, unveiled on Monday by Jensen Huang, chief executive during a keynote in Taipei ahead of the Computex technology conference, brings about a shift in how computers are used, moving away from traditional software-based workflows towards systems that can carry out tasks through AI agents.

“The PC is being reinvented,” Huang said. “For forty years, you launched apps. Click. Type. With RTX Spark and Microsoft Windows, you ask, and the PC does the work.”

RTX Spark is designed as a superchip built for what Nvidia describes as the “era of personal AI agents”. It combines a Blackwell-based GPU with a Grace CPU, delivering up to 1 petaflop of AI performance and 128GB of unified memory. 

Nvidia says this setup is intended to support complex AI tasks running directly on the device rather than in the cloud.

The company explained that the chip will allow users to run large language models locally, including systems with up to 120 billion parameters, while also handling demanding creative and gaming workloads. These include editing high-resolution video, generating AI video content, and running advanced 3D rendering tools.

Nvidia said RTX Spark systems will support Windows PCs built for what it calls “personal agents”, software that can carry out tasks across applications. The company is working with Microsoft to integrate the technology into Windows, including new security features designed to control how AI agents operate on a device.

Microsoft chairman and chief executive Satya Nadella said the collaboration aims to expand access to advanced computing tools. “Our goal is to deliver unmetered intelligence to every home and every desk with Windows,” he said.

The companies noted that the new Windows platform will include tools that allow users to manage what AI agents can access, how data is handled, and when information is processed locally instead of being sent to the cloud.

RTX Spark also targets creators and developers as Nvidia said the chip can support 90GB 3D scene rendering, 12K video editing, and AI-assisted design work. Users will be able to run high-end gaming titles at 1440p resolution with frame rates above 100 frames per second.

Adobe is among the companies adapting its software for the new system. It is reworking Photoshop and Premiere to take advantage of the hardware, with expected performance gains in AI tools such as generative editing and video expansion features.

Shantanu Narayen, Adobe’s chair and chief executive, said the changes would speed up creative work. “The best creative work in the world happens in Adobe tools from Adobe Firefly to Photoshop and Premiere, and the expansion of our partnership with NVIDIA and Microsoft will make those experiences faster and more powerful than ever,” he said.

Other software and gaming companies are also involved, including Blackmagic Design, Blender, ComfyUI, OTOY, and Xbox, all of which said they are preparing support for the new platform.

Hardware makers are preparing devices around the chip. Nvidia said laptops and compact desktops will be produced by companies including ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft Surface and MSI, with Acer and GIGABYTE also expected to join later. The first devices are scheduled for release in the autumn.

RTX Spark systems are expected to come in slim laptop designs and compact desktops aimed at both professionals and consumers. Nvidia said laptops will feature lightweight builds, OLED displays and all-day battery life.

With the launch, Nvidia is going beyond its traditional graphics chip business into full PC system design. Analysts say the move places the company in closer competition with Intel, AMD and Apple in the personal computing market.

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Avanan Report: Sending Phishing Emails from Quickbooks – What You Should Know https://techeconomy.ng/avanan-report-sending-phishing-emails-from-quickbooks-what-you-should-know/ https://techeconomy.ng/avanan-report-sending-phishing-emails-from-quickbooks-what-you-should-know/#respond Mon, 27 Jun 2022 07:02:28 +0000 https://techeconomy.ng/?p=77253 Avanan researchers observed hackers using the domain of Quickbooks to send malicious invoices and request payments, writes Jeremy Fuchs, Cybersecurity Researcher/Analyst at Avanan, A Check Point Company

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Hackers continually impersonate trusted brands to get into the inbox. By leveraging the legitimacy of a trusted domain, security solutions are more likely to view the email itself as legitimate. 

The content of the email may differ from the services that the domain offers. That’s not necessarily important; what is important is leveraging the legitimate service. We call this The Static Expressway.

This refers to the practice of hackers utilizing websites that are on static Allow Lists to get into the inbox.

Starting in May 2022, Avanan researchers have observed hackers  using the domain of Quickbooks–quickbooks.intuit.com–to send malicious invoices and request payments.

The hackers send the email from Quickbooks’ domain, using a free Quickbooks account that they have signed up for, with the email body spoofing brands like Norton or Office 365.

In this attack brief, Avanan will analyze how hackers are leveraging legitimate and popular websites to get into inboxes and steal credentials and money.   

Attack

In this attack, hackers are creating accounts in Quickbooks, and then sending malicious invoices and requests for payments directly from the service.  

Vector: Email

Type: Credential Harvesting

Techniques: Brand Impersonation, Double Spear

Target: Any end-user

Email

In this attack, threat actors are using the legitimacy of Quickbooks to get into the inbox.

Email Example #1

In this attack, hackers are presenting what looks like an invoice for Norton. The email comes from a Quickbooks domain. That is because the hackers have signed up for a Quickbooks account, and are sending an invoice from that account. It presents an invoice and encourages you to call if you think there are any questions. When calling the number provided, they will ask for credit card details to cancel the transaction. Note that the number is one associated with such scams, and the address doesn’t correlate with a real one. 

Techniques

Hackers, particularly on the dark web, are using a combination of social engineering and legitimate domains to extract money and credentials from end-users. By using a legitimate domain–in this case, Quickbooks–it offers a trusted domain by which to send phishing emails. This process is not unique to Quickbooks.

Over the years, we’ve seen this across many popular brands, such as MicrosoftGoogle,  WalgreensDHL,  Adobe and many more. The idea is to take advantage of the fact that these popular websites are on static Allow Lists.

Organizations can’t block Google, so Google-related domains are allowed to come into the inbox.

These static lists are continually pilfered by hackers. This has manifested itself in hackers hosting phishing content on sites like Milanote.

In this case, hackers are using the actual domain of Quickbooks to get into the inbox. All they have to do is create an account on Quickbooks, which is simple and free to do. Quickbooks is a trusted domain–static Allow Lists will let it fly into the inbox. 

Once there, they present classic social engineering tactics, such as urgency and monetary damages. By requiring the end-user to call to see what’s going on, the hackers then harvest the phone number, allowing them to use it for future attacks. We call this tactic phone number harvesting.

This attack then presents a one-two punch. The hackers get money, and have a phone number for future attacks, whether it’s via text message or WhatsApp.   

This attack works because of what hackers on the dark web call a double spear:

  • Make the user call the listed telephone number
  • Make the user pay the invoice

Add to the fact that there’s built-in legitimacy since the email comes from Quickbooks and this represents a particularly tricky and effective phishing campaign.  

Best Practices: Guidance and Recommendations

To guard against these attacks, security professionals can do the following:

  • Before calling an unfamiliar service, Google the number and check accounts to see if there were, in fact, any charges
  • Implement advanced security that looks at more than one indicator to determine in an email is clean or not
  • Encourage users to ask IT if they are unsure about the legitimacy of an email

The post Avanan Report: Sending Phishing Emails from Quickbooks – What You Should Know appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

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