As corporate America continues to abandon diversity, equity, and inclusion schemes, Microsoft is doubling down on race-based hiring and pay policies — and a watchdog group is sounding the alarm.
Consumers’ Research, a non-profit that works to “educate and protect consumers,” is sending out a “woke alert” to warn consumers of the tech giant’s campaigns to push far-left ideologies, even as other corporations ditch the ideological agenda.
“Despite many companies distancing themselves from woke ideology, Microsoft continues to double down on its radical agenda,” the Consumers’ Research Executive Director, Will Hild, told The Daily Wire. “From promoting divisive DEI policies and harmful gender ideology targeting children, to advancing a politically charged climate crusade, Microsoft has made one thing clear: it prioritizes activism over innovation.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meta-axes-dei-programs-in-the-lead-up-to-trumps-inauguration?author=Spencer+Lindquist&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=146&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Meta+Axes+DEI+Programs+In+The+Lead-Up+To+Trump%E2%80%99s+Inauguration">Meta</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/disney-walks-back-dei-initiatives-changes-disclaimers-on-classic-films">Disney</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/target-rolls-back-dei-joining-other-major-companies-like-walmart-meta">Walmart</a>, and other major corporations have stepped back from their radical DEI policies in the wake of President Donald Trump’s re-election. Not so Microsoft, whose Chief Diversity Officer <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/doing-work-intention-inclusion-impact-lindsay-rae-mcintyre-cvg4c/?trackingId=S3Le8KssrO0uhupaH0qc8A%3D%3D">wrote</a> in December that the company&#8217;s &#8220;diversity and inclusion work is more important than ever.”
Just two months earlier, the diversity officer wrote in a <a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2024/10/23/microsofts-2024-global-diversity-inclusion-report-our-most-global-transparent-report-yet/">DEI report</a> that “if ever there were a critical time for the business case for diversity and inclusion in the workplace, it is now.” That report featured a section on “pay equity” comparing the average salaries of employees by their race and gender, irrespective of the roles that are held across the different demographic groups.
Microsoft says its goal is to increase the number of women and non-white employees in leadership roles, in part to ensure a leveling of any pay gaps.
“As we continue to increase representation for women and racial and ethnic minority groups at more senior levels, and continue to ensure pay equity for all,” the report reads, with the Vice President of Global Compensation Mike Cyran adding that “any pay gaps indicate opportunities to increase representation at more senior levels.”
“Microsoft seems to be implying diversity metrics should be a main factor in salaries, rather than professional performance and merit,” Consumers’ Research says in its woke alert.
Microsoft’s commitment to DEI policies — especially those that could be used to engineer specific demographic balances within various roles — may place the tech giant on a collision course with the Trump administration. Shortly after taking office, Trump ordered the Department of Justice to <a href="https://www.justice.gov/ag/media/1388501/dl?inline">author a report</a> on actions that the federal agency could take to enforce civil rights law to “investigate, eliminate, and penalize illegal DEI and DEIA preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities in the private sector.”
Microsoft has already taken an oppositional posture against the administration and <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/investigations/3398418/microsoft-support-europe-hires-anti-trump-law-firm/">threatened to sue</a> it amid tariff negotiations between the United States and Europe.
The company’s 2023 DEI report appeared to indicate that Microsoft pays white employees <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/microsoft-brags-that-it-pays-white-employees-less-than-non-white-employees-despite-same-job-title">less than</a> non-white employees, often for performing the same job.
“All racial and ethnic minority groups who are rewards eligible combined earn $1.007 total pay for every $1.000 earned by US rewards-eligible white employees with the same job title and level and considering tenure,” the report said.
The company also maintains an “<a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/inclusion-journey/library">inclusion journey library</a>” with videos on “allyship,” “inclusive perspectives,” and how to fight implicit bias. The library, Microsoft says, can be used for “re-learning past behaviors and approaches to constantly improve our self-awareness and adopt inclusive behaviors.”
Microsoft’s left-wing agenda has seeped out from its workplace and into its products. The company <a href="https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/games/articles/2024/06/xbox-pride-2024/#:~:text=Since%202019%2C%20Xbox%20and%20its,head%20over%20to%20Xbox%20Wire.">partnered</a> with the Trevor Project in 2019, an organization that advocates for child transgenderism, to create “more inclusive” video games.
In 2024, the company <a href="https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2024/05/31/xbox-pride-2024/">boasted</a> that one of its video games “allows players to romance and marry characters regardless of their gender,” while another “tells the story of Tyler, a transgender man, with sensitivity and depth.” A third “features openly LGBTQIA+ characters.”
The Trevor Project, which runs an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/schools-across-u-s-push-kids-to-chatrooms-where-they-can-talk-transgenderism-with-lgbtq-adults">online chat platform</a> where children can talk to adults about transgenderism and their sexual identity, is just one of the far-left LGBT organizations that Microsoft has bankrolled. The company and its employees have dropped more than $16 million to “organizations that support LGBTQIA+ communities.”
Hild says that it is time for the tech giant to drop its left-wing agenda.
“As if subjecting millions of people to Microsoft Teams wasn&#8217;t bad enough, the tech giant has become a megaphone for left-wing politics,” Hild said. “It’s time for Microsoft to get back to what&#8217;s made it successful — rolling out poorly conceived products, full of bugs, with annoying features no one wants, and using their monopoly status to force it on the world.”

Microsoft Building

Woke Alert! Microsoft Slammed For Race-Based ‘Pay Equity’ Scheme

Diversity

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Microsoft

Wokeness

The Trump administration released new guidance late Friday night on its tariff on China, exempting electronic devices such as smartphones and laptops.
The <a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/USDHSCBP-3db9e55?wgt_ref=USDHSCBP_WIDGET_2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">guidance</a>, posted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which oversees collecting taxes on imports, could relieve some anxiety among consumers and tech giants like Apple and Microsoft, which manufacture many of their products in China, The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/trump-exempts-smartphones-other-electronics-from-chinese-tariffs-dd8eb31f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Around 20 electronic products — which also include memory cards and machines used to make flatscreens and tablets — will now be exempted from Trump&#8217;s massive &#8220;reciprocal&#8221; tariff on China. The exemption comes after the president increased the tariff on China in recent days in response to China&#8217;s retaliatory tariff on U.S. goods.
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy and Homeland Security adviser, <a href="https://x.com/StephenM/status/1911092862076289243" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> on X, &#8220;These products are subject to the tariff under the original IEEPA [International Emergency Economic Powers Act] on China of 20 percent.&#8221; The IEEPA tariff was the first one Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-imposes-tariffs-on-imports-from-canada-mexico-and-china/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">imposed</a> on China after taking office in January. The tariff was levied on China, along with Canada and Mexico, in an attempt to &#8220;hold&#8221; the countries &#8220;to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country.&#8221;
The Trump administration has suggested that the tariff on China will encourage companies, including Big Tech companies, to manufacture their products on U.S. soil, arguing that the move would be better for the economy and national security.
“President Trump has made it clear America cannot rely on China to manufacture critical technologies such as semiconductors, chips, smartphones, and laptops,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Saturday, according to the Wall Street Journal. She added, “Companies are hustling to onshore their manufacturing in the United States as soon as possible.”
Last week, Trump announced a &#8220;90-day pause&#8221; on tariffs for most countries, citing their willingness to negotiate. The tariff &#8220;pause&#8221; didn&#8217;t end tariffs on foreign nations, but instead dropped them to a baseline 10% tariff rate, except for products from China, which he raised to 125%. With the IEEPA tariff factored in, the tariff on Chinese goods stands at 145%.
China <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-hits-back-with-125-tariffs-accuses-u-s-of-bullying-and-coercion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a> to Trump&#8217;s move by increasing the tariff on U.S. imports to 125%, a move that will mostly affect American soybeans, pharmaceutical drugs, and airplanes. Trump is accusing China of &#8220;ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries,&#8221; while China <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/china-doubles-down-on-fighting-trade-war-to-the-end-says-it-will-not-respond-to-threats" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> it will not respond to &#8220;pressure, threats, and blackmail.&#8221;
Trump remains hopeful that China will come to the negotiating table to work out a new trade deal, but so far, the Chinese government has shown no signs of backing down from the trade war.
“A deal is going to be made with China,” the president said earlier this week. “A deal is going to be made with every one of them [countries], and there will be fair deals. I just want fair.”

iPhone

Trump Exempts Smartphones, Other Electronics From Additional Tariff On China

Apple

Big Tech

China

Donald Trump

Politics

Smartphones

Tariffs

Microsoft confirmed it would shut down Skype in May, directing users to its Teams platform and ending a chapter for the once-popular internet calling service.
Microsoft <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/28/tech/skype-microsoft-shutdown/index.html">purchased</a> Skype in 2011 for $8.5 billion, marking the company’s largest acquisition at the time, according to CNN.
Launched in 2003, the service once dominated internet calling by offering free global connectivity, but struggled to keep pace with rivals such as FaceTime, WhatsApp, and, most recently, Discord and Zoom.
“Skype has been an integral part of shaping modern communications and supporting countless meaningful moments, and we are honored to have been part of the journey,” said president of Microsoft 365 collaborative apps and platforms Jeff Teper in a <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2025/02/28/the-next-chapter-moving-from-skype-to-microsoft-teams/">statement</a>.
Skype’s ownership changed hands multiple times before Microsoft’s acquisition. In 2005, eBay purchased the voice-over-internet tool for $2.6 billion, but parted ways four years later by selling its majority stake to a separate investment group for $1.9 billion. That transaction set the stage for Microsoft to take over in 2011.
After the purchase, Microsoft integrated Skype with other services such as its Office suite and the now-discontinued Windows Phone platform. Despite that, the platform lagged behind in a landscape increasingly dominated by Apple’s FaceTime and Meta’s WhatsApp as users gravitated toward apps centered on mobile messaging and video calls.
Many organizations turned instead to tools that packaged conferencing, chat, and collaboration in one place. This broader shift contributed to Microsoft’s aggressive focus on Teams, which now offers what the company describes as “seamless file sharing” and expanded functionality that extends beyond basic voice or video calls.

In this photo illustration, the Skype logo is seen displayed

End Of An Era: Microsoft Confirms Skype Shutdown In May

eBay

General

Technology

U.S.

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shaprio he wants to help center political discussions and debate around truth and facts – and numbers. 
Speaking to Shaprio on “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/sunday-special" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Sunday Special</a>” this week, Ballmer talked about his new venture, USA Facts, which seeks to put out statistical information so the American people can better understand issues without partisan interjection. 
“Here are the numbers. And before you have your damn debate, at least let&#8217;s debate from what&#8217;s true,” Ballmer said. “And let&#8217;s not be like a politician – just grab one number out of the ether and give it no context to somehow alarm people or excite people.” 
Shapiro highlighted a USA Facts <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt91pxCd0qA">video</a> in which Ballmer outlines illegal immigration by the numbers, showing how millions of illegals have entered the United States every year under the Biden-Harris administration. The video, posted in August, has racked up nearly 8.5 million views. 
Shapiro noted that some of the information might offend people on the political Left due to the polarizing nature of politics. Ballmer acknowledged that he has seen partisan reactions, but remains hopeful. For example, he said he’s been in meetings with politicians from both sides of the aisle to provide them with statistical information. 
“We&#8217;ve been able to have a set of bipartisan meetings to discuss the facts, more so in the Senate, with Sen. Romney, Sen. Schumer,” Ballmer outlined. “But we&#8217;ve had very conservative Republicans and very liberal, so to speak, Democrats sit with us — together — and go through the numbers. Now, people may process them differently, but at least I&#8217;ve found there&#8217;s some bipartisanship in this notion, at least of some group of people in looking at the numbers.”
Ballmer also spoke to Shapiro about artificial intelligence. He said the technology will be as transformative as the development of the internet and microprocessors. Balmer noted that he has little concern about artificial intelligence putting Americans out of work. 
“I think it is as big as the rise of microprocessors,” he told Shapiro. “And with microprocessors, I guess I can include PCs, phones, all of that, the Internet and now AI.”
AI could, for example, help you plan out a European business trip. It can outline sales data for customers, “it can find the briefing documents for our team, it can summarize all that, it can put it together,” he said. 
“That&#8217;s a very valuable scenario from my perspective, really game-changing in terms of making people more productive and frankly changing what jobs will exist in our workforce and what jobs want,” Ballmer continued. 
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1729480318938000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3M4yRIXZdxZcw5v8VneDuo">MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ COMING TO DAILYWIRE+ OCT. 28</a>
“I&#8217;ll give you another example that&#8217;s more in the personal realm,” he said. AI can plan your trip to France after you plug in your budget, for example. “If you&#8217;ve never been to France before, hey, this is an astonishing thing that you can go do.”
“Hey, look, as a scientist, we&#8217;re trying to rapidly do a bunch of experiments for, I don&#8217;t know, cancer research,” Baller said, outlining another application of AI. “There&#8217;s just so many good examples.”
Ballmer argued that new developments would change the employment landscape, but not put Americans out of work. 
“How many jobs can we automate?” Ballmer posed. “I&#8217;m a big believer that our economy is resilient. If we automate away some piece of work, a new door will open.”
“I don&#8217;t fear that because there&#8217;s been so many innovations that have led to net growth as opposed to net shrinkage in what we do,” he added. “So for me, I&#8217;m bullish now.”

Toronto Raptors v Los Angeles Clippers

‘Let’s Debate From What’s True’: Former Microsoft CEO Talks New ‘Facts’ Venture, AI With Ben Shapiro

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Talks New ‘Facts’ Venture, AI With Ben Shapiro

Ben Shapiro

Big tech employees overwhelmingly support<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/wisconsin"> Wisconsin</a> Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D.), contributing tens of thousands of dollars to her campaign while giving no money to Republican challenger Eric Hovde, according to a review of Federal Election Commission data.
Employees and high level executives at the Big Five — Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft — are stepping in to help Baldwin amid her contentious campaign for a third term in the Senate. The notoriously left-learning tech industry has come under increasing scrutiny in recent weeks as Google and Meta face accusations of censoring information about the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. 
Baldwin has received nearly $70,000 dollars from employees of the Big Five, with over half coming from employees at Google,<a href="https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?data_type=processed&amp;committee_id=C00326801&amp;committee_id=C00830687&amp;contributor_employer=Microsoft&amp;contributor_employer=Meta&amp;contributor_employer=Google&amp;contributor_employer=Facebook&amp;contributor_employer=Apple&amp;contributor_employer=Amazon&amp;contributor_employer=Alphabet&amp;two_year_transaction_period=2024"> according</a> to a Daily Wire review of Federal Election Commission data. Hovde, a Wisconsin businessman, appears to have received<a href="https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?data_type=processed&amp;committee_id=C00870139&amp;contributor_employer=Alphabet&amp;contributor_employer=Amazon&amp;contributor_employer=Apple&amp;contributor_employer=Facebook&amp;contributor_employer=Google&amp;contributor_employer=Meta&amp;contributor_employer=Microsoft&amp;two_year_transaction_period=2024"> no donations</a> to his Hovde for Wisconsin or Hovde Victory Committee from workers at those tech companies.
Employees and executives of Google and its parent company, Alphabet, have given at least $35,520 in donations to Baldwin so far this election cycle.
Kent Walker, president of global affairs at Google and Alphabet, has donated $6,600 to Baldwin this election cycle while Google CMO Lorraine Twohill gave Baldwin $3,300. Fernando Pereira, a vice president and engineering fellow at Google, gave $1,500 to Baldwin while Vinton Cerf, another Google executive, gave the Democratic senator $3,300. 
Donations from employees at the other four tech giants were similarly lopsided, though smaller in number. Amazon employees gave Baldwin $13,172, while Microsoft employees gave her $12,175. Workers at Apple donated just $4,575, while Meta employees gave $2,721. 
While Baldwin won her last election in 2018 by over 10 points, her race this November is expected to be closer, with Wisconsin projected to be one of the battleground states that determines the result of the presidential election. Hovde, who locked up the Republican nomination on Tuesday, is backed by Trump. 
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Zach Bannon, a spokesman for Hovde, said that the tech donations showed that Baldwin is a “bought and paid for corporate special interest career politician.”
“She sides with the big-tech donors that fund her campaign over the concerns of everyday Wisconsinites, which is why the people of Wisconsin are tired of corrupt career politicians and are ready for change,” he told The Daily Wire. 
As a senator, Baldwin has<a href="https://www.baldwin.senate.gov/search?access=p&amp;as_dt=i&amp;as_epq=&amp;as_eq=&amp;as_lq=&amp;as_occt=any&amp;as_oq=&amp;as_q=&amp;as_sitesearch=&amp;client=baldwin&amp;sntsp=0&amp;filter=0&amp;getfields=&amp;lr=&amp;num=15&amp;numgm=3&amp;oe=UTF8&amp;output=xml_no_dtd&amp;partialfields=&amp;proxycustom=&amp;proxyreload=0&amp;proxystylesheet=default_frontend&amp;requiredfields=&amp;sitesearch=&amp;sort=date%3AD%3AS%3Ad1&amp;start=0&amp;ud=1&amp;q=misinformation"> called</a> for crackdowns on alleged “misinformation” on topics from monkeypox to COVID vaccines, frequently calling on companies like Facebook and Google to further restrict certain information. 
For example, in January 2021 Baldwin<a href="https://www.baldwin.senate.gov/news/press-releases/tech-leaders-combat-coronavirus-vaccine-misinformation"> joined</a> efforts to urge social media platforms like Google and Facebook to restrict posts critical of COVID vaccines. 
“While we understand that your companies have implemented policies regarding the removal of vaccine-related misinformation and dedicated resources to stop the spread of misinformation, we believe more must be done. It is imperative that you be transparent about the amount of harmful misinformation that appears on your platforms and the effectiveness of your efforts to remove this content, so that public health organizations and experts can respond appropriately,” Baldwin wrote. 
Baldwin did not return a request for an interview about her stance on “misinformation” and Big Tech. 
<a href="http://www.amiracist.com/">WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI</a>
The left bias of Google employees is no surprise, as donations were<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/google-employees-overwhelmingly-back-warnock-other-senate-democrat-candidates"> similarly lopsided</a> in key Senate races during the 2022 election. The search engine has consistently asserted that it is politically neutral and not biased against conservatives. 
However, in the weeks following the assassination attempt on Trump, users noticed that Google would not autocomplete searches related to the attack. In response, Republican lawmakers<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lawmakers-expand-probe-into-google-meta-over-alleged-censorship-of-trump-assassination-attempt-info"> have launched</a> an investigation into the platform, calling for comprehensive documentation of the company’s policies and programs. 
None of the Big Five returned requests for comment.

Vice President Harris Begins Nationwide Fight for Reproductive Freedoms Tour

Tammy Baldwin Pushed For Online Censorship. Now, Big Tech Employees Are Backing Her Campaign.

2024 Election

Amazon

Censorship

Google

Misinformation

U.S. Politics

U.S. Senate

Wisconsin

All flights from major <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/airlines">carriers,</a> including Delta, American, and United, were grounded Friday morning following a massive global <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/technology">technical</a> outage that affected several industries.
The issue reportedly follows an update made by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cybersecurity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cybersecurity</a> firm CrowdStrike, one of the world&#8217;s largest software providers. The disruption caused computer systems using Microsoft Windows to see nothing but the “blue screen of death.” 
Prominent security consultant Troy Hunt <a href="https://x.com/spectatorindex/status/1814239723390705795?s=46&amp;t=kAaRXGG15beV8rj_bb6XVQ">said</a> of the disruption, “This will be the largest IT outage in history.” He also noted, &#8220;This is basically what we were all worried about with Y2K, except it’s actually happened this time.”
The outage had a global impact, with outages being reported in the UK, India, Germany, and the Netherlands in addition to the United States. 
&#8220;We acknowledge how impactful this is for our customers, and we&#8217;re working to still receiving obstructions as soon as possible,&#8221; Microsoft said in a statement Friday morning, per <a href="https://people.com/delta-united-american-airlines-flights-grounded-global-technology-outage-8680613">People</a>.
&#8220;The system was sent an update and that update had a software bug in it and caused an issue with the Microsoft operating system. And we identified this very quickly and remediated the issue. As systems come back online and they&#8217;re rebooted, they&#8217;re working,&#8221; founder and CEO of CrowdStrike George Kurtz said during a Today Show interview on Friday morning.
He added, &#8220;We&#8217;re deeply sorry for the impact that we&#8217;ve caused to customers, to travelers, and to anyone affected by this including our company. It is our mission to make sure that every customer is recovered. We&#8217;re not going to relent until we get every customer back to where they were.&#8221;
“This is not a security incident or cyberattack,” Kurtz clarified. “The issue has been identified, isolated, and a fix has been deployed.”
The outage could impact businesses ranging from airlines to banks, TV stations, healthcare organizations, hotels, and others, and they might lose millions in revenue due to the disruptions. Independent cybersecurity consultant Lukasz Olejnik told <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/microsoft-windows-outage-crowdstrike-global-it-probems/">Wired</a> this incident should serve as a warning.
“It reminds us about our dependence on IT and software,” Olejnik said. “When a system has several software systems maintained by various vendors, this is equivalent to placing trust on them. They may be a single point of failure—like here, when various firms feel the impact.”

airlines

Delta, American, Other Major Airlines Grounded Amid Mass IT Outage, Other Industries Impacted

Delta, American, Other Major Airlines Grounded Amid Mass IT Outage

Air Travel

Airlines

Business

Cybersecurity

Microsoft laid off a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) team this year, with a team leader sending an email saying the initiatives were no longer needed.
The email, sent earlier this month and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-layoffs-dei-leader-email-2024-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">obtained</a> by Business Insider, is from an individual whose name has not been released. It is unclear how many team employees were laid off.
&#8220;True systems-change work associated with DEI programs everywhere are no longer business critical or smart as they were in 2020,&#8221; said the email, which was sent to thousands of employees, according to BI.
The email reportedly said the DEI team was eliminated due to “changing business needs” as of July 1.
In 2020, following the riots that broke out over the death of George Floyd, Microsoft was one of many companies that pledged to spend millions of dollars to hire more people of color. In June 2020, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella sent <a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2020/06/23/addressing-racial-injustice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an email</a> to employees saying the company had “committed to take action to help address racial injustice and inequity, and unequivocally believe that Black lives matter.”
The company promised to invest $150 million in diversity and inclusion, including doubling “the number of Black and African American people managers, senior individual contributors, and senior leaders in the United States by 2025.”
One year after the pledge, the company released <a href="https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RE4NNpi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a progress report</a> on its “Racial Equity Initiative,” which included spending millions to work on “justice reform,” increasing broadband access, increasing tech education for students as historically black colleges and K-12 computer programs, and funding tech support for black-led nonprofits.
Microsoft now appears to have retreated, at least somewhat, from those efforts – and it’s not the only tech company to do so. Zoom laid off a DEI team earlier this year, saying it would instead work with external consultants from now on, Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-06/zoom-dei-workers-fired-in-recent-round-of-job-cuts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Google and Meta (Facebook) also made cuts to DEI following their 2020 pledges.
CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/22/google-meta-other-tech-giants-cut-dei-programs-in-2023.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> last year that DEI-related job postings declined 44% in mid-2023 from the same time period in 2022. By November 2023, the job postings had dropped by 23% year over year. The outlet noted that between 2020 and 2021, DEI job postings increased by nearly 30%.
Still, Microsoft says its commitments to diversity and inclusion “remain unchanged.”
&#8220;Our focus on diversity and inclusion is unwavering and we are holding firm on our expectations, prioritizing accountability, and continuing to focus on this work,&#8221; Microsoft spokesperson, Jeff Jones told BI in a statement.

Microsoft Laid Off A DEI Team, Saying It’s ‘No Longer Business Critical Or Smart’

Microsoft Laid Off A DEI Team, Saying It's 'No Longer Business Critical Or Smart'

Social Issues

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/microsoft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Microsoft</a> bragged that it pays its white employees less than non-white employees who are employed in similar roles in a diversity report touting the company’s “pay equity” agenda.
The admission came from the tech giant’s <a href="https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RW1e53b#page=28" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2023 Diversity and Inclusion Report</a>, which outlines the company’s loyalty to the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda.
“All racial and ethnic minority groups who are rewards eligible combined earn $1.007 total pay for every $1.000 earned by US rewards-eligible white employees with the same job title and level and considering tenure,” the Microsoft report, first reported on X, brags.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
HOLY SHLIT. In Microsoft&#39;s official 2023 Diversity &amp; Inclusion report, they openly admit that they are paying white people LESS than other ethnic groups in the name of &quot;pay equity.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/cJLoYeBfBo">pic.twitter.com/cJLoYeBfBo</a>
&mdash; Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1760817144781021650?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 23, 2024</a></blockquote>
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It goes on to add that “US Black and African American employees earn $1.004 and Asian employees earn $1.012 for every $1.000 earned by U.S. rewards-eligible white employees with the same job title and level and considering tenure.”
“This pay equity data represents total pay,” the report clarifies. “Our total pay analysis considers base, annual bonus, and stock awards at the time of annual rewards for rewards- eligible employees.”
Microsoft also boasted that it has successfully pushed far-left ideology on its employees, with one passage reading, “As a cornerstone of our growth mindset approach to D&amp;I, we consider understanding how to be effective allies key to activating a culture of inclusion.” The report went on to add, “This year, 96.4% of employees reported some level of awareness of the concept of allyship.”
The company was previously hit with criticism after it <a href="https://freebeacon.com/campus/a-microsoft-fellowship-caps-the-number-of-white-and-asian-applicants-lawyers-say-thats-illegal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">capped the number</a> of white and Asian students that universities could nominate for a highly paid research fellowship.
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But Microsoft is just one of many companies that has engaged in discrimination in pursuit of the DEI agenda.
Disney was hit with a <a href="https://x.com/america1stlegal/status/1761101751271469367?s=46&amp;t=o-U3qwC25WnWaylJ0oeG7Q" target="_blank" rel="noopener">federal civil rights complaint</a> over a similar policy that used diversity metrics to determine pay bonus structures. The complaint came from America First Legal, a foundation that challenges corporations that discriminate against white, Asian, and male employees and applicants.
“The law prohibits Disney from using race, color, religion, sex, or national origin merely as a motivating factor for hiring, training, or promotions,” a <a href="https://aflegal.org/america-first-legal-files-federal-civil-rights-complaint-against-the-walt-disney-company-for-illegal-race-and-sex-discrimination/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a> from America First Legal explains. “But a document on Disney’s ‘Reimagine Tomorrow’ website strongly suggests that race, color, religion, sex, or national origin are often the only motivating factor in Disney’s hiring, training, and promotion decisions.”
The organization went on to allege that Disney is “intentionally discriminating against white American men, Christians, and Jews simply because of their race, sex, religion, and citizenship.”
The complaint came after an exclusive <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-disneyland-posts-woke-wheel-of-privilege-in-employee-kitchen-removes-it-after-daily-wire-inquiry" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daily Wire report</a> found that Disney posted a “wheel of power/privilege” in employee spaces in Disneyland. The poster claimed that males, English speakers, and white people, many of the same groups that America First Legal complains that the company discriminated against, are privileged on account of their identity.
But discriminatory diversity policies are not limited to Microsoft or Disney. A wide range of corporations have been found to discriminate against white people, men, and often Asian people, a series of Daily Wire investigations have found.
A “diversity internship” at NASCAR <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/blatantly-illegal-nascar-bans-white-applicants-from-diversity-internship">banned</a> white applicants on the basis of their race and was called “blatantly illegal” by one lawyer, an investigation from The Daily Wire revealed. NASCAR <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nascar-takes-down-blatantly-illegal-racial-requirement-for-internship-after-daily-wire-report">removed</a> the racial eligibility requirement following the report from The Daily Wire, but has not yet removed two other programs that similarly discriminate.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&quot;Blatantly Illegal:&quot; NASCAR hosted a paid &quot;diversity internship&quot; that banned white applicants on the basis of their race, my latest report in <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDailyWire</a> reveals.
But it&#39;s just one of NASCAR&#39;s several racially discriminatory diversity initiatives.
Thread🧵 <a href="https://t.co/hDWqsAd1iX">pic.twitter.com/hDWqsAd1iX</a>
&mdash; Spencer Lindquist 🇺🇸 (@SpencerLndqst) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpencerLndqst/status/1696158071221866511?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 28, 2023</a></blockquote>
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There are also the tech companies <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ibm-hosts-internships-that-bar-whites-asians-and-men-with-exception-for-men-who-identify-as-women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IBM</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/oracle-internship-scholarship-opportunities-bar-whites-and-asians-on-the-basis-of-race" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oracle</a>, both of which hosted internship programs that excluded both white and Asian applicants on the basis of their race.
Apple hosted entrepreneur training programs that are only open to companies with leaders who are women or who are not white or Asian, an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/apple-entrepreneur-camp-program-bars-applicants-based-on-race" target="_blank" rel="noopener">investigation</a> from The Daily Wire previously reported.
The Daily Wire revealed that a wide range of companies, including U.S. Bank, Bayer, Best Buy, and Liberty Mutual have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/major-bank-pharmaceutical-giant-participated-in-mckinsey-training-that-banned-white-people" target="_blank" rel="noopener">participated in employee training programs</a> from McKinsey and Company that intend to “diversify talent pipelines” and are not open to white employees.

Microsoft Logo

Microsoft Brags That It Pays White Employees Less Than Non-White Employees Despite ‘Same Job Title’

Racism

One of the country’s largest newspapers is suing two tech companies over what the paper says are massive violations of its copyrighted material used to train artificial intelligence engines.
The New York Times sued Microsoft and OpenAI in the Federal District Court in Manhattan on Wednesday, accusing the tech companies of exploiting millions of Times articles to train their AI chatbots. The Times’ lawsuit marks the first from a major media outlet over AI engines designed to scrape the web for information to respond to prompts in real-time, according to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/27/business/media/new-york-times-open-ai-microsoft-lawsuit.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NYT</a>.
The NYT&#8217;s lawsuit says that Microsoft’s Copilot and OpenAI’s ChatGPT exploited reporting by the Times to create a rival service that has cost the newspaper “billions of dollars in statutory and actual damages” through the “unlawful copying and use of The Times’s uniquely valuable works.”
“Times journalism is the work of thousands of journalists, whose employment costs hundreds of millions of dollars per year,” the NYT&#8217;s lawsuit says, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/new-york-times-sues-microsoft-and-openai-alleging-copyright-infringement-fd85e1c4?mod=hp_lead_pos2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Wall Street Journal</a>. “Defendants have effectively avoided spending the billions of dollars that The Times invested in creating that work by taking it without permission or compensation.”
Tech companies developing AI engines have argued in the past that information on the internet is fair to use to train their programs under “fair use” legal exemptions to copyrighted material, according to WSJ. The Times in its lawsuit says that “fair use” does not apply in this situation because the AI engines are capable of taking chunks of text from Times articles and copying it verbatim into responses from prompts.
Danielle Coffey, the CEO of the news publishing trade group News/Media Alliance, told WSJ that the tension between news outlets and AI generative engines is possible to be resolved “if approached as a collaboration.”
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“The New York Times put a very strong stake in the ground that demonstrates the value and importance of protecting news content,” Coffey said. “Quality journalism and these new technologies, especially those that compete for the very same audience, can complement each other if approached as a collaboration.”
The U.S. Copyright Office announced in August that it is investigating the use of artificial intelligence over copyright issues.
“This study will collect factual information and policy views relevant to copyright law and policy. The Office will use this information to analyze the current state of the law, identify unresolved issues, and evaluate potential areas for congressional action,” the agency said on its <a href="https://www.copyright.gov/policy/artificial-intelligence/">website</a>.

The New York Times

The New York Times Says In Lawsuit That AI Learning Tools Have Cost Company ‘Billions’

The New York Times Says In Lawsuit That AI Learning Tools Have Cost Company 'Billions'

Artificial Intelligence

New York City

New York Times

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/openai-unleashes-new-ai-model-gpt-4-which-can-pass-academic-exams-program-software-and-even-do-taxes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OpenAI</a>, the parent company of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ben-shapiro-reveals-what-we-really-need-to-fear-about-ai-chatbots" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ChatGPT</a>, brought back its co-founder and CEO Sam Altman days after removing him.
The Silicon Valley enterprise, which was facing the prospect of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/openai-staff-threaten-revolt-after-sudden-ouster-of-ceo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">staff revolt</a> and possible <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/openai-investors-consider-suing-board-altmans-ouster" target="_blank" rel="noopener">legal action</a> by investors over the firing, announced an &#8220;agreement in principle&#8221; for Altman&#8217;s return late Tuesday, Pacific time.
Greg Brockman, another co-founder and president of OpenAI <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/17/greg-brockman-quits-openai-after-abrupt-firing-of-sam-altman/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who quit</a> after Altman&#8217;s ouster, also <a href="https://twitter.com/gdb/status/1727208843137179915" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he was coming back and &#8220;getting back to coding tonight.&#8221;
Part of the deal, as explained by OpenAI in <a href="https://twitter.com/OpenAI/status/1727206187077370115" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a post to X</a>, involved putting together a &#8220;new initial board&#8221; with former Salesforce.com CEO Bret Taylor as chairman and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers as a member.
The post also said Adam D&#8217;Angelo, co-founder of question-and-answer platform Quora and independent director of the board that fired Altman, would stay on and serve as a member of the new board.
&#8220;We are collaborating to figure out the details. Thank you so much for your patience through this,&#8221; OpenAI concluded.
Altman, who served as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-chatgpt-openai-ceo-career-net-worth-ycombinator-prepper-2023-1#loopt-was-part-of-the-first-group-of-eight-companies-at-startup-accelerator-y-combinator-each-startup-got-6000-per-founder-and-loopt-was-in-the-same-batch-as-reddit-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">president</a> of startup accelerator Y Combinator and had led OpenAI since 2019, was abruptly let go on Friday.
In announcing the move, the OpenAI&#8217;s board <a href="https://openai.com/blog/openai-announces-leadership-transition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed</a> Altman &#8220;was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities.&#8221; The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/21/technology/openai-altman-board-fight.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> there had been tensions between Altman and the board on the issue of striking a balance between artificial intelligence safety and expansion.
A power struggle ensued over the weekend that <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-20/openai-s-murati-aims-to-re-hire-altman-brockman-after-exits" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> included the interim CEO — technology chief Mira Murati — trying to to rehire Altman and Brockman while the board <a href="https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/business/money-report/openai-is-hiring-former-twitch-ceo-emmett-shear-to-run-company-two-days-after-ousting-sam-altman/3164254/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">picked</a> former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear to lead the company.
Hundreds of OpenAI employees signed a letter demanding the board of directors resign, get replaced by a new board, and reinstate Altman and Greg Brockman. The employees also said they might follow Altman and Brockman to Microsoft, one of OpenAI&#8217;s investors that <a href="https://apnews.com/article/altman-ai-chatgpt-leadership-microsoft-a110b173c3eff4a374992017f05cd45a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hired</a> the pair to lead an in-house <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/artificial-intelligence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">artificial intelligence</a> research unit after their departure from OpenAI.
One person who signed the letter was Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI&#8217;s chief scientist and a member of the company&#8217;s board. &#8220;I deeply regret my participation in the board&#8217;s actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we&#8217;ve built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company,&#8221; Sutskever <a href="https://twitter.com/ilyasut/status/1726590052392956028" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a post to X.
Altman <a href="https://twitter.com/sama/status/1727207458324848883" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shared</a> a post to X on Wednesday explaining his view of the situation.
&#8220;i love openai, and everything i’ve done over the past few days has been in service of keeping this team and its mission together. when i decided to join [Microsoft] on sun evening, it was clear that was the best path for me and the team. with the new board and [with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella&#8217;s] support, i’m looking forward to returning to openai, and building on our strong partnership with [Microsoft],&#8221; he said.
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Nadella <a href="https://twitter.com/gdb/status/1727208843137179915" target="_blank" rel="noopener">replied</a> with a post that said, &#8220;We are encouraged by the changes to the OpenAI board. We believe this is a first essential step on a path to more stable, well-informed, and effective governance. Sam, Greg, and I have talked and agreed they have a key role to play along with the OAI leadership team in ensuring OAI continues to thrive and build on its mission. We look forward to building on our strong partnership and delivering the value of this next generation of AI to our customers and partners.&#8221;

Sam Altman

OpenAI Reaches Deal To Reinstate Sam Altman As CEO

Silicon Valley

Staffers at <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/openai-unleashes-new-ai-model-gpt-4-which-can-pass-academic-exams-program-software-and-even-do-taxes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OpenAI</a>, the parent company of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ben-shapiro-reveals-what-we-really-need-to-fear-about-ai-chatbots" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ChatGPT</a>, threatened to quit in droves to protest the abrupt <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/17/23965982/openai-ceo-sam-altman-fired" target="_blank" rel="noopener">firing</a> of its co-founder and CEO Sam Altman on Friday.
Somewhere around <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/openai-staff-walk-protest-sam-altman/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">500</a> to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-20/openai-staff-threaten-to-go-to-microsoft-if-board-doesn-t-quit?srnd=premium&amp;utm_content=bufferd967d&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">600</a> of the startup&#8217;s estimated 770 employees reportedly signed a letter demanding the board of directors resign, get replaced by a new board, and reinstate Altman and Greg Brockman, another co-founder and president of OpenAI <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/17/greg-brockman-quits-openai-after-abrupt-firing-of-sam-altman/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who quit</a> after Altman&#8217;s ouster.
The hundreds of employees also warned they might follow Altman and Brockman to Microsoft, one of OpenAI&#8217;s investors that <a href="https://apnews.com/article/altman-ai-chatgpt-leadership-microsoft-a110b173c3eff4a374992017f05cd45a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hired</a> the pair to lead an in-house <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/artificial-intelligence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">artificial intelligence</a> research unit after their departure.
&#8220;Your actions have made it obvious that you are incapable of overseeing OpenAI,&#8221; said the <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/openai-staff-walk-protest-sam-altman/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to the board, which was <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/openai-staff-walk-protest-sam-altman/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted by WIRED</a>. &#8220;We are unable to work for or with people that lack competence, judgement and care for our mission and employees.&#8221;
One person who signed the letter was Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI&#8217;s chief scientist and a member of the company&#8217;s board.
&#8220;I deeply regret my participation in the board&#8217;s actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we&#8217;ve built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company,&#8221; Sutskever <a href="https://twitter.com/ilyasut/status/1726590052392956028" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a post to X.
Altman had led OpenAI since 2019. He is widely considered a Silicon Valley powerhouse with experience serving as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-chatgpt-openai-ceo-career-net-worth-ycombinator-prepper-2023-1#loopt-was-part-of-the-first-group-of-eight-companies-at-startup-accelerator-y-combinator-each-startup-got-6000-per-founder-and-loopt-was-in-the-same-batch-as-reddit-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">president</a> of startup accelerator Y Combinator.
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When the board fired Altman, its members gave little insight into the reasoning for his removal. It did <a href="https://openai.com/blog/openai-announces-leadership-transition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claim</a> Altman &#8220;was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities.&#8221;
The board also said Mira Murati, the company’s chief technology officer, would serve as interim CEO. Then, in a twist, Murati worked to rehire Altman and Brockman — as <a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/openai-trying-to-get-sam-altman-back-4b728049" target="_blank" rel="noopener">OpenAI&#8217;s own investors</a> pushed for Altman&#8217;s return — while the board members sought to hire their own CEO, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-20/openai-s-murati-aims-to-re-hire-altman-brockman-after-exits" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Bloomberg</a>.
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first and last time i ever wear one of these <a href="https://t.co/u3iKwyWj0a">pic.twitter.com/u3iKwyWj0a</a>
&mdash; Sam Altman (@sama) <a href="https://twitter.com/sama/status/1726345564059832609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2023</a></blockquote>
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On Sunday, Altman <a href="https://twitter.com/sama/status/1726345564059832609" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> a photo of himself to X holding an OpenAI guest badge, stating, &#8220;first and last time i ever wear one of these.&#8221; But whatever effort there was to bring Altman back into OpenAI over the weekend appeared to hit a snag when the board <a href="https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/business/money-report/openai-is-hiring-former-twitch-ceo-emmett-shear-to-run-company-two-days-after-ousting-sam-altman/3164254/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">picked</a> former Twitch CEO Emmett Shear to lead the company.
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“The process through which you terminated Sam Altman and removed Greg Brockman from the board has jeopardized all of this work and undermined our mission and company,&#8221; said the staff letter to the board. “Your conduct has made it clear you did not have the competence to oversee OpenAI.”

OpenAI Staff Threaten Revolt After Sudden Ouster Of CEO

Tens of thousands of U.S. State Department emails were stolen by a group of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/communist-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China-based</a> hackers who breached Microsoft&#8217;s email platform earlier this year, according to a Senate staffer.
The anonymous staffer, who works for Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO), <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/chinese-hackers-stole-60000-emails-us-state-department-microsoft-hack-senate-2023-09-27/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Reuters that State Department IT officials briefed the U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday that 60,000 emails were stolen from ten different accounts — all directly working on East Asia and the Pacific.
In June, Chinese Communist Party-affiliated hackers subverted Microsoft&#8217;s system, giving them access to multiple U.S. agencies that deal with China ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken&#8217;s trip to Beijing.
Wang Wenbin, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, reportedly called the accusation &#8220;disinformation&#8221; to distract from the U.S. committing cyber espionage against China.
&#8220;No matter which agency issued this information, it will never change the fact that the United States is the world&#8217;s largest hacker empire conducting the most cyber theft,&#8221; Wenbin said, according to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/microsoft-china-hackers-breach-emails-9f774ea07a2857bfc05d17a261e7a705" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Associated Press</a>.
News of the hacking first became public in July, prompting the U.S. agencies to take immediate action to counter China&#8217;s brazen and frequent acts of cyber-espionage on critical infrastructure to acquire sensitive information.
The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and other senior officials at the State Department were victims of a Chinese hacking campaign that gained access to email accounts from roughly two dozen organizations that began on May 15 and went undetected until June 16.
Microsoft disclosed the hack in a <a href="https://msrc.microsoft.com/blog/2023/07/microsoft-mitigates-china-based-threat-actor-storm-0558-targeting-of-customer-email/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blog post</a>, blaming the breach on a state-backed, espionage-focused Chinese hacking group &#8220;known to target government agencies in Western Europe&#8221; known as Storm-0558. The group had begun accessing email accounts in May, affecting about 25 organizations, including government agencies and other consumer accounts likely associated with the agencies.
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Schmitt told Reuters in a statement shared by the staffer following the briefing on Wednesday that the federal government should &#8220;take a hard look&#8221; at relying on a single IT vendor as &#8220;a potential weak point.&#8221;
&#8220;We need to harden our defenses against these types of cyberattacks and intrusions in the future,&#8221; Schmitt said.
Schmitt joined over a dozen other senators earlier this year, <a href="https://www.schmitt.senate.gov/press-releases/senator-schmitt-leads-bipartisan-coalition-demanding-answers-regarding-chinas-hack-of-state-department-email-server/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sending</a> a bipartisan letter to State Department Chief Information Officer Kelly Fletcher to determine the extent of the hacker&#8217;s breach of the unclassified email server preceding Blinken&#8217;s trip to China.
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency officials warned in a joint <a href="https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/news/us-and-international-partners-release-advisory-warning-prc-state-sponsored-cyber-activity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> with international and domestic intelligence services that China poses a risk to American intellectual property.
&#8220;For years, China has conducted aggressive cyber operations to steal intellectual property and sensitive data from organizations around the globe,&#8221; CISA Director Jen Easterly said in a statement.
Earlier this month, the Pentagon released a new cyber strategy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pentagon-says-china-russia-prepared-to-launch-cyber-attacks-against-u-s-to-sow-chaos-if-war-erupts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> warning that China and Russia are prepared to launch destructive cyber attacks on U.S. critical infrastructure to &#8220;sow chaos and hinder military mobilization&#8221; in the event of war breaking out.
The Chinese Communist Party sees superiority in cyberspace as core to its theories of victory, the report reads, adding that it has engaged in espionage and theft that compromised key defense networks and broader U.S. critical infrastructure.
Microsoft reportedly said earlier this year that state-backed Chinese hackers were targeting U.S. critical infrastructure to potentially disrupt communications between the U.S. and Asia during future crises.

Washington public buildings

China-Based Hackers Accessed 60K U.S. State Dept Emails In Microsoft Breach, Senate Staffer Says

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