Microsoft marks 50 years

Co-founder Bill Gates marked the 50th anniversary of his company, Microsoft, in a Wednesday blog post. Gates reminisced on founding the Fortune 500 company in 1975 with Paul Allen and described the milestone as bittersweet, expressing wonder that so much of his life had already gone by. Gates shared his original BASIC code for the Altair 8800 computer and described it as the coolest code he’d ever written. The company also marked the golden anniversary with a blog post and listed MS-DOS, Windows, Xbox, Azure, and the artificial intelligence platform Copilot among its greatest accomplishments.

The company hosted an event on Friday in Washington, celebrating the company's anniversary, including talks with Gates and other executives, along with a presentation on the company’s AI advances. Disney child star Brenda Song hosted the event, which included a sneak preview of Jack Black’s A Minecraft Movie and minor interruptions from stand-alone protesters. 

What is in the company’s future? The company described its future as centered on harnessing AI towards the creation of a positive society. Innovation must continue responsibly while prioritizing fundamental security above all else, according to its celebratory post. Microsoft also recommitted itself to investing in employees and earning the trust of customers, the statement added.