The Redmond giant has laid off over 15,000 people in 2025, and a report claims it's all in the name of freeing up spending money to invest more heavily in AI infrastructure, as Microsoft closes in on NVIDIA as most valuable company.

Microsoft is cutting nearly 9,000 jobs in its biggest layoff since 2023, aligning with its focus on AI and streamlining operations.

Microsoft began job cuts that will impact about 9,000 workers, its second major wave of lay-offs this year as it seeks to control costs while ramping up on artificial intelligence (AI) spending. Less than 4 per cent of the company’s total workforce would be affected,