Microsoft (CDR)

authID has been certified as an Identity Verification Partner for Microsoft Entra Verified ID and can integrate its biometric identity check with liveness detection into the platform. The solution can be embedded into existing identity workflows without customer-specific development and is intended to prevent unauthorized access; the company stresses that no biometric data are stored. Through the partnership, authID gains access to Microsoft’s network of system integrators and resellers, including MajorKey Technologies with its IDProof+ solution. The company reports a market capitalization of USD 18.55 million, 12-month revenue of USD 2.22 million (+117%) and more cash than debt; the stock is up 31% year-to-date but down 78% over the past year. » More on de.investing.com

Microsoft is expanding its AI data center infrastructure in North Rhine-Westphalia and plans a fourth site in Grevenbroich on a 23-hectare plot, with the purchase contract already signed. The investment amount for Grevenbroich has not been disclosed; the first three projects in Bedburg, Bergheim and Elsdorf already total around €3.2 billion. Microsoft sees NRW as a strategic cloud and AI region and expects thousands of jobs with suppliers and new tenants; partial operation of the first sites could begin from 2028, with Grevenbroich planned for the early 2030s. In the short term, high capex will weigh on the balance sheet, but in the long term the spending is intended to support cloud and AI growth. » More on deraktionaer.de

Microsoft published, for the first time, a public country-by-country report for 2025: the group paid a total of $6.3 billion in corporate taxes in the EU, of which $5.6 billion was in Ireland, but only $174.2 million in Germany. In Germany Microsoft recorded $11.68 billion in revenue but only a comparatively small pre-tax profit of $661.2 million, resulting in a low effective tax burden. Microsoft attributes the concentration of profits in Ireland to finance functions and intellectual property rights located there. The report feeds into the ongoing debate over taxation of US tech companies in the EU; worldwide Microsoft paid $28.7 billion in corporate taxes in the reporting year. » More on manager-magazin.de