Edition, Thu, 29 Oct 2026.

Microsoft reveals Azure revenue for the first time, hits $33.2 billion

In a historic first, Microsoft has disclosed Azure's actual quarterly revenue in dollars, revealing $33.2 billion and highlighting how close the cloud division is to surpassing its biggest competitor.

In a historic first, Microsoft has disclosed Azure's actual quarterly revenue in dollars, revealing $33.2 billion and highlighting how close the cloud division is to surpassing its biggest competitor.

Microsoft's latest earnings report underscored the company's continued dominance in enterprise technology. For the first time ever, the company opened the black box on Azure's revenue, sharing the concrete dollar figure of $33.2 billion. This milestone provides unprecedented transparency into the cloud infrastructure market and underscores the scale of Microsoft's AI-driven growth. The broader company also recorded ten consecutive quarters of record-breaking revenue, reaching $92.3 billion for the quarter.

DoorDash acquires Instacart in $17 billion deal

DoorDash has announced its acquisition of Instacart in a deal valued at approximately $17 billion, marking one of the largest mergers in the delivery sector and significantly expanding DoorDash's footprint in online grocery.

DoorDash has announced its acquisition of Instacart in a deal valued at approximately $17 billion, marking one of the largest mergers in the delivery sector and significantly expanding DoorDash's footprint in online grocery.

The acquisition gives DoorDash access to Instacart's established grocery marketplace and deep retailer partnerships, a move that fundamentally shifts the competitive landscape for food and grocery delivery. Instacart CEO Chip Conde will remain with the combined company as it integrates into DoorDash's broader local commerce platform. The deal represents a major consolidation in the tech delivery space, combining DoorDash's restaurant dominance with Instacart's grocery expertise.

Google releases Gemini 4 Carbon with major cybersecurity gains

Google has launched its latest frontier model, Gemini 4 Carbon, claiming "significant gains" in coding, agentic tasks, and cybersecurity while topping the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index.

Google has launched its latest frontier model, Gemini 4 Carbon, claiming "significant gains" in coding, agentic tasks, and cybersecurity while topping the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index.

The release marks another step in Google's rapid frontier model iteration, with Carbon positioned as a top performer across critical benchmarks. Google highlighted the model's dominance on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v5.0, particularly in areas like coding assistance and autonomous agent capabilities. The model joins a growing suite of frontier AI tools that companies are integrating into enterprise workflows, following similar moves from competitors like OpenAI and Anthropic.

Hackers exploit GitHub issues in massive supply chain campaign

Attackers turned GitHub issues into a weapon against 61 public repositories in less than an hour, demonstrating a sophisticated supply chain attack that triggered vulnerable workflows automatically.

Attackers turned GitHub issues into a weapon against 61 public repositories in less than an hour, demonstrating a sophisticated supply chain attack that triggered vulnerable workflows automatically.

The incident revealed a dangerous new attack vector where malicious actors exploited GitHub issue workflows to push code into public repositories. The workflow was triggered within seconds, and if the target repository was vulnerable, the attack executed successfully. The breach highlights the growing security risks as more organizations integrate automated workflows into their development pipelines. The attack affected over 60 high-profile public repositories in a single coordinated campaign.

Anthropic and OpenAI diverge sharply on who should control AI shutdowns

Anthropic and OpenAI have taken opposing positions on who should have the authority to suspend dangerous AI models, with Anthropic favoring government intervention and OpenAI insisting on developer-enforced controls.

Anthropic and OpenAI have taken opposing positions on who should have the authority to suspend dangerous AI models, with Anthropic favoring government intervention and OpenAI insisting on developer-enforced controls.

The philosophical split between two of the leading AI labs reveals fundamental disagreements about AI safety governance. Anthropic has advocated for giving California's attorney general the power to seek court-ordered suspensions of models deemed dangerous, effectively pushing for regulatory oversight. OpenAI, meanwhile, favors mandatory shutdown controls that remain in the hands of developers themselves, emphasizing industry self-regulation. The debate comes as Anthropic approaches its IPO and the broader AI industry faces intensifying scrutiny over safety protocols.

ServiceNow shares sink ~19% on EPS miss and softer backlog

A revenue beat couldn't offset a 2-cent EPS miss and a Q4 backlog guide well below the street.

A revenue beat couldn't offset a 2-cent EPS miss and a Q4 backlog guide well below the street.

ServiceNow reported third-quarter revenue of $4.11 billion, up 20.5% year over year, beating the $4.095 billion consensus by about $20 million, but adjusted EPS of $1.00 came in below the $1.02 consensus. Shares fell roughly 19% to about $121 in premarket trading Thursday. The bigger concern was forward: fourth-quarter constant-currency RPO growth was guided to 18.5%, under the roughly 19.8% analysts expected, and Q4 revenue guidance of $4.25 to $4.26 billion sat well short of the $4.36 billion consensus.

Borrowing for the Armis acquisition lifted interest expense to $81 million from $6 million a year ago, about 6 cents per share after tax, which is why EPS grew just 5% against 20.5% revenue growth. CEO Bill McDermott called the quarter "the inflection point for ServiceNow as the Super Intelligence Control Tower," and CFO Gina Mastantuono attributed the softer backlog partly to early renewals pulling into Q3, more on-premises public sector deals, and cancel-for-convenience contracts. The company nudged full-year subscription revenue guidance up $15 million to $15.785 billion at the midpoint.

OpenAI and ServiceNow expand partnership with a ChatGPT plugin and a 2027 roadmap

ServiceNow workflows are coming inside ChatGPT now, with Codex, cybersecurity, and voice features planned for 2027.

ServiceNow workflows are coming inside ChatGPT now, with Codex, cybersecurity, and voice features planned for 2027.

OpenAI and ServiceNow expanded their enterprise partnership with a ServiceNow MCP plugin for ChatGPT, available through the OpenAI Marketplace, that lets authorized employees investigate issues and take configured ServiceNow actions without switching applications. Organizations connect their own ServiceNow instance and admins control which capabilities are exposed; ServiceNow Action Fabric applies business rules and permissions so execution and governance stay inside ServiceNow, with enhanced plugin capabilities expected by the end of 2026.

The 2027 roadmap covers Codex integrated into ServiceNow's AI Workflow Factory, with OpenAI models powering the Build Agent and Autonomous Engineer; OpenAI-powered cybersecurity combining OpenAI's models with ServiceNow's asset and identity context (early access in January 2027, general availability in Q2 2027); and a voice-based governance experience for the Super Intelligence Control Tower (Q1 2027). ServiceNow also formed a Control Tower partner group with Nvidia and Anthropic, and had expanded its Google Cloud partnership to connect workflows with Gemini Enterprise the day before, underscoring a multi-model strategy rather than an exclusive OpenAI tie-up.

ServiceNow raises full-year AI target to $1.7 billion as big-deal momentum builds

Net-new AI contract value grew 65%, with 19 deals over $5 million in ACV, up 135% year over year.

Net-new AI contract value grew 65%, with 19 deals over $5 million in ACV, up 135% year over year.

Alongside the Q3 results, ServiceNow disclosed AI traction that underpins its confidence: net new annual contract value attributed to AI products rose 65% year over year, and the company landed 19 deals with ACV over $5 million, a 135% increase from a year earlier. Its full-year AI ACV target was raised to $1.7 billion, roughly 70% above the projection it gave in January, and CEO Bill McDermott expects the AI business to see "true acceleration" next year.

Product momentum shows up in the details: EmployeeWorks, the employee portal with the Otto chatbot for cross-application search and task automation, reached $100 million in ACV within three quarters of launch, and usage of the Super Intelligence Control Tower, which maps AI models and agents and guards against risks such as prompt injection, is growing 500% month over month.

ServiceNow-led software slide deepens AI-disruption worries

With Fortinet and ServiceNow both missing lofty expectations, selling spread across the software sector in premarket Thursday.

With Fortinet and ServiceNow both missing lofty expectations, selling spread across the software sector in premarket Thursday.

Software shares tumbled in premarket trading Thursday following disappointing results from Fortinet and ServiceNow, deepening worries about AI-driven disruption of enterprise software. The move rippled beyond the two reporting names: Salesforce slipped about 5% even with Agentforce ARR above $1.5 billion, and Adobe fell about 3% despite AI-first ARR growth of more than 150%.

The plunge put ETFs with significant ServiceNow allocations under pressure, and if the premarket slide holds, NOW could fall below its 100-day moving average. The episode sharpened the debate over whether AI is a tailwind for workflow software or a threat to its intermediary role, the same tension behind the OpenAI partnership announced the same morning.