Microsoft Finally Hangs Up on Skype, While Salesforce CEO Cites Slack as a Warning About Microsoft’s OpenAI Partnership
Microsoft finally closed down Skype for good on Monday, marking the final chapter for a platform that once revolutionised and defined internet calling.
Previously flagged in February to warn users ahead of schedule, Skype was officially shuttered this week, 22 years after it first launched and 14 years after Microsoft bought the platform for $8.5 billion in 2011.
With Skype’s shuttering, Microsoft has unequivocally shifted its UC focus toward its flagship UC and collaboration service and is encouraging Skype users to make the switch. Microsoft has updated the Skype mobile apps to be non-functional if a user tries to install the update, and the Skype app now directs any user to Microsoft Teams.
To streamline the migration process, Microsoft has been enabling users to sign into Teams via their existing Skype credentials. User contacts and chat histories have automatically carried over, ensuring continuity with minimal disruption.
Meanwhile, in other Microsoft news, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff claims Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI could end up in tatters just like it did with Slack.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has pointed to the European Commission’s ongoing antitrust investigation into Microsoft’s bundling of Teams with Office 365, a case originally sparked by a complaint from Slack in July 2020, as a sign of growing regulatory scrutiny in the collaboration space. Benioff’s relationship with Microsoft has long been marked by rivalry rather than alignment.
He has also raised concerns about OpenAI’s deep integration with Microsoft, warning that such a tight-knit partnership could expose the AI company to strategic and operational risks.
Benioff told SaaStr CEO Jason Lemkin in a recent video podcast:
That was pretty bad and they were running their playbook and did a lot of dark stuff. That playbook should get ripped up and thrown away(...) I think it’s extremely important that OpenAI gets to other platforms because Microsoft is building their own AI, and I don’t think Microsoft will use OpenAI in the future."
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