Microsoft is pulling back from AI data center investments, a move that has some tech industry analysts wondering what the future holds.

The news came from a Feb. 21 TD Cowen report, shared with IT Brew, where a team of evaluators led by Senior Equity Research Analyst Michael Elias detailed how the company is canceling leases with “at least two private data center operators” that would cover around 200 megawatts of capacity. It’s a move that casts some doubt on the future of the tech industry’s AI investment and drew comparisons to Meta’s data center disinvestment in 2022.

Tea leaves. As the report notes, the lease cancellation is part of a larger shift from Microsoft. TD Cowen analysts, through “channel checks”—looking at distribution channels as a way of examining a company’s actual priorities and actions—found that Microsoft has also walked away from negotiations for 100 megawatt deals, let some leases expire, and left land leases in Tier 1 markets.

Oversupply might be the issue. “There is capacity that it has likely procured, particularly in areas where capacity is not fungible to cloud, where the company may have excess data center capacity relative to its new forecast,” TD Cowen wrote.

Read the rest here.—EH

Elon Musk promoted the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as a vehicle to rapidly modernize federal IT systems and software. But as the temporary organization rolls from agency to agency demanding access to sensitive systems, cybersecurity experts worry that irreparable damage is being done.

As of Feb. 10, according to New York magazine, DOGE’s teams have gained access to IT systems at departments including Commerce, Education, and Energy, as well as one of the most sensitive federal systems that exists—the Treasury department’s payments systems—and numerous other federal agencies, such as the Office of Personnel Management and General Services Administration.

Musk also claimed to be behind the unilateral shutdown of the US foreign aid agency USAID and is trying to do the same to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). He has repeatedly suggested DOGE staff are personally halting payments to US contractors.

The intrusion into these systems at Musk’s request has been controversial, to say the least. President Donald Trump has said his administration will delegate even more power to DOGE, despite a slew of lawsuits and numerous legal experts questioning its sweeping powers. Critics have pointed out Musk’s innumerable potential conflicts of interest, questioned whether several of its staffers would pass background checks, and accused DOGE of violating federal laws. The Trump administration has also tried to exclude DOGE from open records laws.

Read more here.—TM

Not many CISOs can say that they’ve worked at a business that found prosperity during a global pandemic, or at a video communications company in the process of pulling off a major rebrand as an “AI first” giant, but Zoom CISO Michael Adams sure can.

Between Dec. 2019 and Apr. 2020, the number of daily meeting participants on Zoom increased from 10 million to 300 million. As a result, Adams—who joined Zoom in 2020 as a chief counsel before becoming an interim, then permanent CISO in 2022—told IT Brew that his early years at Zoom were focused around bolstering the software-as-a-service company’s security posture and security strategy.

“It became more cohesive [and] it became more focused,” Adams said. “There was better alignment.”

New direction. These days, things look a little different for Adams. In November of last year, the pandemic success announced that it was ditching its solely videoconference-friendly reputation by changing its legal name from Zoom Video Communications to just Zoom Communications, signaling the company’s desire to be considered an “AI-first work platform.”

Adams told IT Brew that Zoom’s ongoing identity makeover caused the company to amp up its security program. Currently, there are three main areas of focus in the company’s security strategy framework for AI: AI by Zoom, AI for Zoomies (Zoom’s nickname for its employees), and AI against Zoomies.

Keep reading here.—BM

Hackers at DEF CON’s vishing contest reveal how easily sensitive data can be stolen over the phone. See how social engineers trick employees into sharing critical security details—and what companies can do to stop them. Don’t fall for the scam. Learn the tactics now.