The Microsoft Library in Redmond has lengthy been a quiet anachronism in the course of the high-tech campus, a spot the place authors gave talks and staff checked out old style paper books, together with titles really helpful by CEO Satya Nadella and different execs.
That chapter of the corporate’s historical past is now closing.
The Verge broke the information Thursday that Microsoft’s conventional library goes away as a part of what Microsoft described internally as a shift to a “trendy, AI-powered studying expertise.”
Responding to an inquiry from GeekWire, the corporate confirmed that its libraries in Redmond, Hyderabad, Beijing, and Dublin closed as of this week and “are being repurposed into collaborative areas for group studying and experimentation,” the place staff can discover rising applied sciences.
“We’re evolving Microsoft Library areas and providers to raised help how staff study, keep present, and construct new abilities,” a Microsoft spokesperson stated through e-mail. The adjustments are already underway and can roll out absolutely within the coming weeks, based on the corporate.
In an inside FAQ obtained by The Verge, Microsoft described the brand new strategy as a “Skilling Hub” and acknowledged that the choice “impacts an area many individuals valued.”
The shift additionally contains cuts to worker subscriptions for newspapers and business reviews. Publications affected embrace The Data and Strategic Information Service, which had supplied world reviews to Microsoft staff for greater than 20 years.
Microsoft stated it continues to supply entry to greater than 20 digital assets and subscriptions, “prioritizing these most respected to staff.”
Strategic Information Service didn’t mince phrases about Microsoft’s AI-focused rationale.
“Expertise’s future is formed by flows of energy, cash, innovation, and other people — none of that are predictable based mostly on LLMs’ probabilistic regurgitation of outdated info,” Berit Anderson, the corporate’s chief working officer, advised The Verge.
The library has moved round over the a long time, from the unique Constructing 4 to Constructing 92 most not too long ago. The information of the closure drew a nostalgic response on X from Steven Sinofsky, the previous Home windows president, who referred to as the library “a crown jewel of the early days.”
“They purchased each PC ebook and two copies of each software program,” Sinofsky wrote. “Should you discovered one you wanted that they didn’t have, they acquired it.”
