Satya Nadella gave up much of his CEO duties in 2025. Are we on the cusp of a new CEO? And does some money manager/political duo like Amy Hood and Brad Smith actually make more sense in this role than an engineer-type for the modern Microsoft?

Microsoft is trying to win our hearts and minds on AI

After spending three years trying to jam AI down our collective throats, Microsoft has only met resistance. Now, the real marketing begins
Governments and regulators: Microsoft will build out its AI infrastructure by actually paying for it and respecting the communities in which this happens
Customers: Satya Nadella is blogging, and he wants us to stop complaining about AI. He's the wrong messenger

Windows 11

First Patch Tuesday of 2026 brings security and bug fixes but no new features
First update of 2026 brings Copilot-powered image descriptions in Narrator, new IT policies for Copilot, other changes to Dev & Beta
Dev is about to switch to 26H1
IDC says that PC sales rose 8.1 percent in 2025, warns again about 2026
The good & bad of Paul's Panther Lake laptop
Dell doesn't sell any PCs to consumers so it obviously has opinions about why consumers don't buy PCs for AI
Microsoft will soon retire its Lens mobile app

AI

Apple predictably partners with Google to bring Gemini to Siri
Samsung correctly points out we're all using AI already so there's no reason to complain about it
We can't trust AI, so Microsoft is letting Copilot go shopping with our credit cards
We can't trust AI, so OpenAI is giving ChatGPT access to our private health data
Gmail is getting more AI because email is the low-hanging fruit of data collection

Xbox and gaming

Developer Direct returns on January 22 with Fable and Forza 6 gameplay
Microsoft to bring Avowed to PS5 in February

Tips and picks

Tip of the week: Kick off 2026 with a security checkup
App pick of the week: Microsoft Local Foundry
RunAs Radio this week: Azure in 2026 with Jeremy Winter
Brown liquor pick of the week: Don Julio 70

Hosts: Leo Laporte, Paul Thurrott, and Richard Campbell

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Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

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WW 966: You Can't Spell Gmail Without AI - Is Microsoft's AI Strategy Doomed to Burst?

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WW 966: You Can't Spell Gmail Without AI - Is Microsoft's AI Strategy Doomed to Burst?