The news: As Microsoft turns 50, the world’s second-most-valuable company has grown beyond its initial software and operating system businesses. It now dominates the cloud computing segment with Microsoft Azure and the gaming market through its Activision Blizzard acquisition.

Microsoft may have failed to capitalize on the smartphone and mobile app explosion of the past decade, but investments in cloud computing and generative AI (genAI) anchor its future expansion.

Microsoft’s recent bets pay off: The company’s AI earnings now top $13 billion annually, up sharply YoY, bringing in more revenues than AI leader and partner OpenAI.