The news: Microsoft will avoid a major EU antitrust fine by agreeing to sell its Teams app separately from Office 365 and Microsoft 365. Brussels is set to approve the deal after a positive market test, with no strong objections from rivals or customers, per Bloomberg. As part of the settlement, Microsoft must not only unbundle Teams but also lower prices on Office packages without it and improve interoperability with rival apps such as Zoom, Slack, and similar productivity tools. Our take: Microsoft sidesteps a fine but loses its bundling edge. The move levels the playing field for Slack, Zoom, and others—while showing the EU’s playbook is evolving from punishing fines to behavioral change.

Voice assistants will add nearly 30 million US users between 2022 and 2029, fueled by genAI, demographic shifts, and new hardware. Key adoption trends, platform battles, and marketing opportunities are shaping the next era of voice technology.

Accenture Song has acquired Superdigital, a Florida-based social-first and influencer agency with clients including Microsoft, Welch’s, and Nerf. Founded in 2013, Superdigital specializes in TikTok-driven content, community building, and creator-led campaigns, with activations ranging from Welch’s pop-ups to Microsoft’s AI influencer work. The deal reflects a broader wave of M&A as consultancies and holding companies buy into the creator economy. With social and influencer marketing outpacing other formats, the move positions Accenture to win young, digital-first audiences and scale creator-driven growth.

The news: Epic rolled out new genAI tools for clinicians, including an AI scribe solution that transcribes doctors’ notes during patient visits. Epic will incorporate ambient technology from Microsoft to power its medical documentation technology. Our take: Epic’s AI scribe solution with Microsoft/Nuance as its development partner delivers a major blow to startups like Abridge and Ambience. These two companies are part of a booming ambient AI scribe space that has totaled nearly $1 billion in investment funding so far this year, per a July analysis from STAT. But Epic’s presence will make it much tougher for smaller players to stand out in the category, since doctors will be drawn in by the efficiency of using scribe tools from their EHR system.

AI shopping assistants are reshaping product discovery and threatening retail media’s search-driven model. RMNs and advertisers need to adjust strategies to protect their market position and seize the opportunity to turn disruption into growth.

The news: Cohere wants to ease enterprise concerns around AI adoption with the launch of North, its new flagship platform. North is a privately deployable agentic platform that lets companies create, manage, and deploy AI agents entirely behind their own firewall. Our take: With the frenetic pace of AI model launches and the pressure for quick enterprise adoption, data governance and security can’t be an afterthought. Platforms like North give enterprises a path to adopt powerful AI tools without giving up control over sensitive information.

Xbox hits 500M MAUs and $5 billion Game Pass run rate: Franchise power and console loyalty fuel Microsoft’s gaming momentum.

LinkedIn posted 9% YoY revenue growth in its June-ending quarter, fueled by rising engagement, B2B ad demand, and AI-powered tools. Despite soft hiring trends, sessions rose 11% YoY as more creators and professionals use LinkedIn for content, networking, and branding. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella emphasized the platform’s evolution from a resume archive to a dynamic business hub. AI continues to drive efficiency and creativity across features, benefiting both users and advertisers. With strong identity data and a trusted audience, LinkedIn is carving out a stable, differentiated space in social media—positioning itself for long-term relevance beyond recruitment cycles.

The news: Netflix is dialing up its global ad game, with its latest UK hire signaling what’s to come next for the streaming giant. The company hired Ed Couchman, who previously served as the head of advertising sales for Spotify’s UK and Northern Europe business, to spearhead UK ad sales, per Business Insider. Couchman has served in ad sales roles at Meta, Snap, and Channel 4 in the past. Our take: Hiring Couchman is a critical step in shifting Netflix’s ad focus from the US market to reach foreign advertisers who haven’t taken advantage of its broad reach.

Microsoft reported $76.4 billion in Q2 revenue, up 18% YoY, as cloud infrastructure, productivity software, and embedded AI drove strong performance. Microsoft Cloud grew 27% to $46.7 billion, and Azure's annual run rate surpassed $75 billion, overtaking Google Cloud. Enterprise adoption of tools like Dynamics 365 continues to rise, reinforcing Microsoft’s role in AI-powered operations. Following the report, Microsoft’s market cap crossed $4 trillion. The company plans to spend $80 billion in fiscal 2025 to expand its AI infrastructure, while showing capital discipline. Microsoft is positioning itself as the foundational enterprise platform for the AI era.

The news: Microsoft’s latest earnings reflect more than just a Wall Street beat—they signal a deeper shift in how enterprises are adopting productivity software, cloud infrastructure, and embedded AI to run their businesses. It reported $76.4 billion in revenues, up 18% YoY. Microsoft Cloud made up $46.7 billion of those revenues, up 27% YoY, as cloud demand remains strong across all workloads. Our take: With strong recurring revenue, expanding AI use cases, and leadership across productivity and cloud, Microsoft is increasingly well-insulated from macroeconomic headwinds and well positioned to shape the future of work and software.

Our midyear report revisits the top trends we named in early 2025 to see what’s shaping the market, evolving fast, or fading in the rearview mirror.

The news: ChatGPT isn’t just leading the chatbot race—it’s dominating it. With rapid growth and billions of daily prompts, it remains the go-to generative AI (genAI) tool for both businesses and consumers despite rising competition. The stats: Figures on the AI leader’s user growth are debated, but the most consistent recent number for weekly active users (WAUs) is 500 million—an increase from 100 million WAUs in November 2023, a year after its debut. That number tripled to 300 million by December 2024. Our take: As genAI evolves from a novelty product to a routine tool in workflows and daily life, ChatGPT is maintaining its role as an industry leader. To stay ahead, OpenAI should focus on improving ChatGPT as a core product and prove it can scale profits sustainably before racing to outbuild its rivals.

GenAI will reach about 51% of US internet users by 2029 as growth stabilizes, with search dominating use cases and Gen Z leading adoption. Amid rising competition from Google and others, ChatGPT will maintain dominance. Brands must adapt to AI-mediated customer relationships.

AI is upending every aspect of marketing, from neuro-contextual ads that read emotions to autonomous shopping agents that make purchasing decisions. As tech giants consolidate control of the sector, six pivotal trends are reshaping advertising, search, and commerce.

The news: OpenAI is preparing to launch a suite of office productivity tools that could let users bypass tools from Microsoft. Users will be able to build and modify presentations and spreadsheets that are compatible with PowerPoint and Excel, per The Information—without using Microsoft’s own apps. Our take: This suite could position OpenAI as a serious contender in the office software space, bypassing years of Microsoft and Google development. Companies using ChatGPT could improve workflows by managing documents, generating content, and executing repetitive tasks from a single interface.

The news: Amazon Web Services (AWS) will launch an agentic AI marketplace designed to help enterprises browse and install AI agents from a variety of startups from a one-stop shop. Our take: The AWS agent marketplace could become a high-value channel for both discovering and distributing automation tools. Enterprises already on AWS’ platform should consider exploring new agent integrations, while startups have a chance to get in front of decision-makers before the market gets even more crowded.

The news: Google snatched AI coding startup Windsurf’s IP out from under OpenAI in an acqui-hire that includes Windsurf’s CEO, co-founder, and some R&D employees. Our take: Google’s nonexclusive licensing approach could help it avoid regulatory pushback, though employees not involved in the deal may be left out to dry. Deals like this show that control over developer tools is becoming a major strategic advantage for tech companies and could indicate that the Big Tech fight for AI talent and executives is only just beginning.

The news: A Microsoft AI pilot study showed a fourfold improvement in diagnostics compared with a panel of real doctors, but researchers acknowledged the continued need for human expertise. The takeaway: It’s evident AI is not a replacement for doctors, but it is a tool they should start adopting. There’s a window of opportunity for doctors and healthcare systems to grab a first-mover advantage by presenting AI as a co-pilot and a value-add that leads to more accurate diagnoses and more time spent with patients.

The news: US shopper interest in generative AI (genAI) assistants has spiked 223% between 2023 and 2025, per Chain Store Age. 69% of US consumers surveyed by CouponFollow have used AI assistants for shopping. Our take: Retail AI strategies must match their audiences. Those geared toward younger consumers should highlight AI use and innovation and even let AI guide purchases. For older consumers, focus on AI to inform, not take control.