Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Microsoft is closing its employee library and cutting back on subscriptions (The Verge, January 15)
https://www.theverge.com/tech/862531/microsoft-library-closure-transition-changes-notepadMicrosoft’s library of books is so heavy that it once caused a campus building to sink, according to an unproven legend among employees. Now those physical books, journals, and reports, and many of Microsoft’s digital subscriptions to leading US newspapers, are disappearing in a shift described inside Microsoft as an “AI-powered learning experience.”
Microsoft started cutting back on its employee subscriptions to news and reports services in November, with some publishers receiving an automated email cancellation of a contract. “This correspondence serves as official notification that Microsoft will not renew any existing contracts upon their respective expiration dates,” reads an email from Microsoft’s vendor management team. “We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere appreciation for your partnership, collaboration, and continued support throughout our engagement.”
Strategic News Service (SNS), which has provided global reports to Microsoft’s roughly 220,000 employees and executives for more than 20 years, is no longer part of Microsoft’s subscription list. In an email to Microsoft employees that relied on SNS reports, the publisher notes that “Microsoft has just released an automated announcement that all library contracts, of which the SNS Global Report is perhaps the most strategic for your own use, are to be turned off.”
Microsoft employees I’ve spoken to recently have lost access to digital publications like The Information. They’re also unable to perform digital checkouts of business books from the Microsoft Library. While Microsoft often rotates the publishers it uses in its Library service, this time it’s part of a much broader change that seems like corporate cost cutting mixed with the continued push for AI.
-snip-
Microsoft started cutting back on its employee subscriptions to news and reports services in November, with some publishers receiving an automated email cancellation of a contract. “This correspondence serves as official notification that Microsoft will not renew any existing contracts upon their respective expiration dates,” reads an email from Microsoft’s vendor management team. “We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere appreciation for your partnership, collaboration, and continued support throughout our engagement.”
Strategic News Service (SNS), which has provided global reports to Microsoft’s roughly 220,000 employees and executives for more than 20 years, is no longer part of Microsoft’s subscription list. In an email to Microsoft employees that relied on SNS reports, the publisher notes that “Microsoft has just released an automated announcement that all library contracts, of which the SNS Global Report is perhaps the most strategic for your own use, are to be turned off.”
Microsoft employees I’ve spoken to recently have lost access to digital publications like The Information. They’re also unable to perform digital checkouts of business books from the Microsoft Library. While Microsoft often rotates the publishers it uses in its Library service, this time it’s part of a much broader change that seems like corporate cost cutting mixed with the continued push for AI.
-snip-
And of course with an "AI-powered learning experience" the power over what you're allowed to learn shifts to Microsoft.
A subscription to The Information, which is Silicon Valley business news, is hundreds of dollars a year. MS can afford it easily, but that isn't true of most of their employees.
More from GeekWire - MS is closing all their employee libraries:
https://www.geekwire.com/2026/microsoft-campus-library-closes-in-broader-shift-to-ai-powered-digital-learning-experiences/
Responding to an inquiry from GeekWire, the company confirmed that its libraries in Redmond, Hyderabad, Beijing, and Dublin closed as of this week and “are being repurposed into collaborative spaces for group learning and experimentation,” where employees can explore emerging technologies.
-snip-
Microsoft said it continues to offer access to more than 20 digital resources and subscriptions, “prioritizing those most valuable to employees.”
Strategic News Service didn’t mince words about Microsoft’s AI-focused rationale.
“Technology’s future is shaped by flows of power, money, innovation, and people — none of which are predictable based on LLMs’ probabilistic regurgitation of old information,” Berit Anderson, the company’s chief operating officer, told The Verge.
-snip-
Microsoft said it continues to offer access to more than 20 digital resources and subscriptions, “prioritizing those most valuable to employees.”
Strategic News Service didn’t mince words about Microsoft’s AI-focused rationale.
“Technology’s future is shaped by flows of power, money, innovation, and people — none of which are predictable based on LLMs’ probabilistic regurgitation of old information,” Berit Anderson, the company’s chief operating officer, told The Verge.
